Mercedes-Benz presents the research vehicle F 800 Style at the Geneva Car Show.

This study of a five-seat upper-class saloon car combines efficient drive technologies with unique safety and comfort functions as well as an emotional design language. A world first for large saloons is its newly developed, flexible multi-drive platform, which is suitable either for an electric drive with fuel cell or use of a plug-in hybrid. Both variants allow local emission-free mobility at a premium level combined with a dynamic driving experience.

With the research vehicle F 800 Style, Mercedes-Benz is showing the future of the premium-class automobile from a new perspective at the Geneva Motor Show 2010: the study of a five-seat upper-class saloon car combines efficient drive technologies with unique safety and comfort functions as well as an emotional design language. With an outside length of 4.75 metres, the F 800 Style offers a generous interior with intelligent seat, control and display concepts. A world first for large saloon cars is the newly developed flexible multi-drive platform. This is suitable both for an electric drive with fuel cell and for use of a plug-in hybrid. Both variants of the F 800 Style permit local emission-free mobility at premium level combined with full day-to-day usability and a dynamic driving experience. “Our aim is to combine responsibility for the environment with practical customer benefit and automotive fascination,” says Dr. Thomas Weber, member of the Executive Board of Daimler AG with responsibility for group research and development at Mercedes-Benz Cars. “The new research vehicle F 800 Style is a perfect example of leadership in innovative drive concepts combined with the classic Mercedes strengths in the areas of design, safety, comfort and confident power.”

F 800 Style with plug-in hybrid: Confident power and performance with 68 g CO2 emissions per kilometre
The drive unit of the powerful plug-in hybrid consists of a 200 kW (272 hp) V6 petrol engine with next-generation direct fuel injection, a hybrid module with an output power of around 80 kW (109 hp) as well as a lithium-ion battery. Thanks to the high power and torque of the hybrid module, the F 800 Style is capable of urban driving with almost purely electric power and therefore without local emissions. The electric range of the F 800 Style with plug-in hybrid is up to 30 kilometres. The certified fuel consumption is 2.9 litres petrol per 100 kilometres. This results in a CO2 emission value of 68 g per kilometre. Thanks to its efficiency, the F 800 Style with plug-in hybrid achieves performance at sports car level (0-100 km/h in 4.8 s, top speed 250 km/h). The top speed in electric mode is 120 km/h. The F 800 Style therefore also covers almost all requirements for inter-urban driving. The research car F 800 Style marks a further step towards the market readiness of the plug-in hybrid. Mercedes-Benz will use this technology in series production in the next generation of the S Class.

Flexible, safe and with full day-to-day usability: the F 800 Style with electric drive based on fuel cell technology
The F 800 Style also offers driving pleasure and driving dynamics as a variant with electric drive based on fuel cell technology. The electric motor with a power output of around 100 kW (136 hp) develops an impressive torque of approximately 290 Nm. The fuel cell generates the drive power from an on-board chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen; the only emissions are pure water vapour. The components of the fuel cell drive originate from the E-Drive modular system, which Mercedes-Benz developed for a wide range of electric vehicles. In the new Mercedes-Benz research vehicle, the fuel cell is located at the front of the vehicle, while the compact electric motor is installed in the area of the rear axle. The lithium-ion battery located behind the rear seats is optimally protected against accidents, as are the four hydrogen tanks. Two tanks in each case are located in the centre tunnel between the passengers and under the rear-seat bench and are designed to withstand all conceivable loads.

Numerous innovations
Alongside the unique multi-drive platform for large saloons and the combination of different alternative drive technologies, the F 800 Style also offers a host of other innovations. The rear doors are just one of the customer-friendly innovations: whereas the front doors are hinged in the conventional way at the A-pillar and open wide to the front, the rear doors slide back on an internal swing arm when opened. Since they are guided closely alongside the body, it is much easier for passengers to get in and out of the vehicle in tight parking spaces. The operating and display concept with cam touchpad is also a new feature. The control unit here consists of a touchpad and a camera that records video images of the user’s hand as it works the pad. The live image of the hand is presented in transparent form in the central display above the console. Users see their hands glide across the touchscreen as a “transparent” contour. The cam touchpad unit recognises finger movements on the pad surface such as wiping, pushing, turning, and zooming, thus enabling intuitive control of the climate control system, phones, audio and navigation systems, and Internet access. The unit enhances active safety as well, because it is very easy and convenient to use and therefore does not distract the motorist as much from the actual task of driving.
With its DISTRONIC PLUS Traffic Jam Assistant function featured in the F 800 Style, Mercedes-Benz has become the first car manufacturer in the world to implement a system that is automatically capable of following the vehicle in front into curves in traffic jams without any steering intervention by the driver. The innovative protection system PRE-SAFE 360° ensures greater passive safety by using sensors to monitor the area behind the vehicle. If the system recognises that a rear-end collision is unavoidable, it activates the brakes milliseconds before the impact. This helps prevent secondary accidents such as those that result when a vehicle is hit and catapulted in an uncontrolled manner into an intersection or a pedestrian crossing.

Brand-typical design language of Mercedes-Benz – in a new interpretation
The F 800 Style is both a technology platform and show car in one. The research vehicle was created in close cooperation between the technical research and pre-development departments and the advanced design studios in Sindelfingen, Germany and Como, Italy. Its exterior appearance is marked by a long wheelbase, short body overhangs and a sensually flowing roof line.
The vehicle’s front end features a variation of the radiator grille with the centrally placed brand star that is typical of Mercedes sports cars. Curved radiator grille bars, a wide radiator grille, generously curved air intake openings and the unique and bright LED headlights emphasise the dynamic nature of the research vehicle. The taillights of the F 800 Style are also equipped with LED units. In the interior of the F 800 Style, elegant wood surfaces and plenty of light ensure a high level of comfort. A modern sense of lightness is apparent at first glance: functional elements such as the driver area and door armrests seem to float in space like sculptures. The innovative lightweight-construction seats of the F 800 Style consist of a magnesium shell and a carbon fibre laminate seat backrest across which a fine yet resistant netting is stretched. The seat shell also features genuine wood veneer.