Following in the tradition of its non-hybrid S-Class brethren, the new Mercedes S400 HYBRID has been awarded an environmental certificate by the technical inspection authority TÜV Süd. Other Mercedes models that have received the award include the A-, B-, C-, E- and GLK-Class models.
To arrive at their final decision, technical inspection authority TÜV examined more than 40,000 individual processes, all of which helped went towards the construction of an eco-profile for the model. In addition, TÜV examiners then assessed both the production and eventual recycling/disposal of the model, with this analysis factoring into the final verdict as to whether or not the environmental certificate would be awarded.
In the end, taking the entire lifecycle into consideration (namely production, operation for 300,000 kilometres and recycling/disposal), the S 400 HYBRID produces 18 percent lower CO2emissions than the comparative model. This saving per vehicle corresponds to roughly 1.6 times the annual per capita emissions of the average European*. The lower requirement for energy resources caused by the lower fuel consumption during the operating phase leads to a 17-percent reduction in the primary energy requirement, or around 7000 litres of petrol.
