Mercedes- Benz B Class electric drive to compete BMW i3

In order to rule the world's luxury car market, Mercedes-Benz and BMW are working aggressively and both are competing head to head in all the segments. Few days back, Mercedes-Benz introduced the A-Class premium hatch, and soon after BMW countered it with 1 Series hatch. Such an aggressive strategies from carmakers will soon going to heat-up the electric car segment as well. Now, to counter the recently launched BMW i3 electric supermini, Mercedes-Benz will soon have the B-Class Electric Drive.

According to the Daimler R&D chief, Thomas Weber, the new B-Class Electric Drive will be better than the Mercedes-Benz i3 in all the key criteria. It offers a comfortable seating for five people, while the i3 is a four-seater. While the B-Class Electric Drive can run up to 200km and attains a top speed of 160kmph, the BMW i3 has a maximum range of 190km and has a top speed of 150kmph.

The Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric Drive develops 135bhp and 300Nm of top torque, while the BMW's i3 only have 250Nm of peak torque. However, the i3 electric accelerates to 100kmph from stand still in mere 7.2 seconds, as against 7.9 seconds taken by Mercedes-Benz's.

The B-Class Electric Drive will have prominent twin-blade front grille, sculpted lines and contoured headlights incorporated with LED daytime running lamps, making it an excellent product. Moreover, it is fully networked, as consumer can monitor charge levels, check vehicle range, and even cool-off or warm the cabin before a trip from a compatible smartphone, tablet or computer.

The electric B-Class will be launched in US in early 2014 and will also make its way to Europe by 2014 end. Meanwhile, BMW is considering the i3 and i8 for the Indian car market, so we could expect the B-Class electric drive to make its way to India as well.