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>> Brian: When I say Mercedes S Class you think anything but miserly motoring, but Mercedes may actually make the entire S Class line hybrid in just a few years. Here's a peek at what it might be like; this is the S500 Vision Plug-In Hybrid. Now unlike the current S400 Hybrid, which is kind of a mild hybrid this car would be able to run on pure electricity for up to 18 miles before it depletes its batteries. Now that isn't all the far to go but probably enough to get the average commuter to work. Then if there's a high current charger at work or wherever you drove you can recharge the vehicle in as little as 2 hours and be ready to head back. Mercedes claims overall performance of around 74 miles per gallon on the new European driving cycle a little different in the U.S. probably a little more optimistic. But, of course, that's only if you resist sampling this car's 0 to 60 performance of just 5 1/2 seconds. Now to make all that happen requires a lot of electricity. The battery in the Vision S500 is a great big old lithium ion thing. It takes up much of the trunk, weighs about 290 pounds as much as all but the fattest S Class owners. And while this car debuted at the Frankfort Motors Show it's a ways off from commercial sale.
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