Mercedes 2015 Annual Report Download - page 103

110 B | COMBINED MANAGEMENT REPORT | SUSTAINABILITY
Clean, quiet and efficient:
New natural gas drive systems for urban buses
With its new Citaro NGT urban bus, Mercedes-Benz is now
offering an attractive alternative to the diesel-powered Citaro.
The Citaro NGT (Natural Gas Technology) stands out with
its low-noise operation and lower CO2 emissions, both of which
offer key benefits in congested inner cities. The Citaro NGT
also makes a convincing argument with its low weight and
associated high passenger capacity, as well as through its
engine’s strong power delivery, low fuel consumption and long
maintenance intervals. The Citaro NGT’s new high-tech
natural gas engine is extremely efficient. In combination with
the intelligent operation of its auxiliary systems, the vehicle
offers potential fuel savings of 15% to 20% compared to the pre-
decessor model. Even greater fuel savings can be achieved
through the use of an optional energy recovery module. Mercedes-
Benz offers the new drive-system variant as a Citaro NGT
solo bus and a Citaro G NGT articulated bus. The Citaro NGT
can be operated with either natural gas or renewable natural
gas, in which case the Citaro NGT becomes a virtually CO2-
neutral bus.
Fuel-cell infrastructure
With the establishment of their H2 MOBILITY Deutschland
GmbH & Co. KG joint venture, the companies Air Liquide, Daimler,
Linde, OMV, Shell and Total have set the stage for the phased
expansion of a nationwide hydrogen filling station network in
Germany. Plans call for approximately 400 stations to be built
in Germany by 2023 with a total investment of approximately
€400 million. H2 MOBILITY, which has its headquarters in
Berlin, has already started operations and is preparing the first
phase of its plan of action, which will involve the rapid instal-
lation of an initial group of 100 filling stations over the next few
years. The success of fuel-cell drive systems powered by
hydrogen depends to a large extent on the establishment of
a filling station infrastructure, which H2 MOBILITY will now
create. Daimler is convinced that fuel-cell drive systems pow-
ered by hydrogen offer great potential. In particular, their
long range and short refilling times lead to extensive benefits
as an alternative to battery-electric drive for vehicles that
travel long distances. Our F 015 Luxury in Motion and Vision
Tokyo research vehicles offer a preview of the future of fuel-
cell technology. These vehicles are equipped with the innova-
tive F-CELL PLUG-IN HYBRID system – a combination of an
electric motor and a fuel cell that achieves an emission-free
range of up to 1,100 km.
Entry into the sector for stationary battery
storage devices
In mid-2015, Daimler entered the sector for stationary energy
storage devices with its wholly owned ACCUMOTIVE subsidiary.
The underlying concept was developed by Daimler Business
Innovation and involves both private and commercial use of
such devices. For private applications, up to eight battery
modules can be combined into an energy storage device with a
capacity of 20 kWh. Households that have their own photo-
voltaic system can use the devices for interim storage of surplus
electricity with virtually no losses. The new stationary energy
storage devices will be launched on the market in early 2016.
The systems for commercial and industrial use can be scaled
as desired. Large stationary energy storage devices can be used
to stabilize grids or provide support during peak demand.
The first industrial-scale lithium-ion storage device is already
online and is operated by two Daimler partners: The Mobility
House AG and GETEC Energie AG.
Under the motto “E-mobility thought to the end,” the world’s
largest second-use battery storage unit at the moment will
begin operating in early 2016 within the framework of a joint
venture in Lünen, Germany, in which we are participating.
The unit will be marketed in Germany’s primary energy balanc-
ing sector. The joint venture partners Daimler, The Mobility
House, GETEC and REMONDIS cover the entire battery value
creation and recycling chain with their project – from the
manufacture and reprocessing of battery systems at the Daimler
subsidiary ACCUMOTIVE, the corresponding range of electric
and plug-in hybrid vehicles from Daimler AG, and the installation
and marketing of stationary battery storage units in the
energy markets by The Mobility House and GETEC, through to
the recycling of the battery systems at the end of their life-
cycle and the feeding of the valuable raw materials back into
the production cycle, which REMONDIS will be responsible for.
With their 2nd-use battery storage project, the four partners
are also demonstrating that the lifecycle of a plug-in or
electric vehicle battery does not end after its automotive appli-
cation. Instead, battery systems remain fully operational after
this point, as the low levels of power loss are only of minor
importance when used in stationary storage operations. It is
estimated that such a unit can operate efficiently in a station-
ary application for at least another ten years. This approach
demonstrably improves the environmental performance of
electric vehicles and also helps make electric mobility more
economically efficient.
Our “road to accident-free driving”
Vehicle safety is one of our core areas of expertise and a key
component of our product strategy. An important chapter in
the history of vehicle safety actually began 75 years ago when
the engineer Béla Barényi joined the former Daimler-Benz AG.
Mercedes-Benz has been shaping the development of safety
systems ever since that time. Many of the company’s inno-
vations, especially those for protecting vehicle occupants and
other road users, have saved countless lives. Our vision
of accident-free driving will continue to motivate us to make
mobility as safe as possible for everyone in the future.