Green Car Centre
A-Class cleans up its act
Introduction
If you think all Mercedes buyers are big conspicuous consumers you'd be mistaken. The entire Mercedes line-up offers solutions for those wanting a bit of luxury without necessarily wreaking havoc on the environment. Unsurprisingly, it's the smallest cars that have the least environmental impact, the new A-Class offering a number of cleaner motoring solutions.
What is it?
The A-Class is Mercedes' entry-level car, so should be the one that's driving the badge-obsessed classes. Now midway through its life, Mercedes has recently made a number of changes to keep it fresh. You'd need to be a committed A-Class anorak to spot the differences between this revised A-Class and its predecessor, the most important changes being under the skin. The engine line-up has been revised to provide better economy and emissions, Mercedes adding a Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) version in Europe that it's boldly claiming as carbon neutral if driven on bio-gas. As there's very little infrastructure for CNG in the UK we'll not be getting it here. Instead we'll need to make do with the new BlueEfficiency models, a range of cleaner, greener models utilising technology like stop-start systems, low rolling resistance tyres and improved aerodynamics.
How does it drive?
The A150 BlueEfficiency is powered by a 1.5-litre petrol engine and features a stop-start system. It's this that helps the A150 BlueEfficiency reduce its consumption and emissions over its regular relatives. Like rivals' stop-start systems the Mercedes version shuts down the engine when it would otherwise be idling when stationary at traffic lights and junctions. To activate it all you need to do is select neutral and the engine cuts out. A clever starter-generator linked to the camshafts via a drive belt helps the car instantaneously start when you depress the clutch and engage first gear. Mercedes makes bold claims that its system is quieter than its rivals', but really there's nothing in it.
The 95bhp engine isn't exactly a fireball, though it is plenty quick enough in town traffic and will keep up on the motorway too. But the natural environment for such a system is in the city, where it can improve economy by around 6.5%. That might not sound like a lot, but the A150 is already a pretty efficient machine in the first place. In every other respect it drives much like any other A-Class, which means it's not a hugely entertaining car, but a practical, spacious and well-built one.
Planet hugger or planet mugger?
Clever as that stop-start system is it's hardly new technology, arch rivals BMW having had it on a far wider range of models for a while now. The improvements over the standard car are slight when it comes to consumption, the BlueEfficiency car only managing to add 3.2mpg to the conventional A150 on the official combined cycle. The emissions drop isn't massive either: 139g/km compared to 148g/km. But if you're a town dweller with a nasty stop-start commute in traffic the BlueEfficiency's fuel and CO2 saving system will add to its green appeal.
Interestingly too, the A- and B-Class are the first compact cars to come with an environmental certificate. The criteria for this is not just standardised emissions and economy figures over the entire life-cycle, but everything from the production methods to its eventual recycling and disposal.
Verdict
The already efficient A-Class turns a bluer shade of green with its new BlueEfficiency model. The advances aren't huge, but worthwhile anyway; more and more BlueEfficiency models being available in time. Interestingly, the forthcoming A160 CDI BlueEfficiency turbodiesel does without the stop-start system, Mercedes trailing its BMW rivals here, as the blue and white propeller and MINI-badged cars offer a far wider range of stop-start equipped models.
Thursday May 29
Photos
Carbon calculator
-
Top questions from Yahoo! Answers
Got a question? Get the answer at Yahoo! Answers
-
Top photos from Flickr
