奔驰S级总工程师Hermann-Joseph Storp近日透露了下一代S级的一些信息。虽然目前奔驰还在继续推出W222 S级车型的衍生车型，但车厂已经开始规划2020年底前发布的下一代车型了。在本月日内瓦车展期间举行的发布会上，Storp表示，奔驰将尽力使S级更节能环保，这其中的一个方法就是在车身结构中更多的使用铝制和碳纤维增强塑料材料。虽然W221 S级的车身中只使用了10%的铝制材料，而新车车身中几乎一半是铝制。而碳纤维增强塑料则只用于高端限量版车型，但未来大规模量产车将更多使用这种材质。不仅奔驰，宝马新一代5系和7系车也将大量采用这种材料。最新一代奔驰S级的燃油经济性比上代车型提升了20%，最省油的S300 BlueTEC Hybrid混动版百公里油耗仅为4.5升，每公里二氧化碳排放量为118克，这主要得益于车重的降低。而下一代S级究竟能将油耗和尾气排放量降低多少仍有待观察。

 

Next-gen Mercedes-Benz S-Class to use more aluminum and carbon fiber reinforced plastics

Mercedes-Benz S-Class chief engineer Hermann-Joseph Storp has shed some light about the company's next-gen flagship model.

 

Mercedes-Benz still hasn't finished coming out with derivatives of the W222 S-Class but they have already started thinking about the next generation scheduled to come out before the end of the decade. During a press gathering this month at Geneva Motor Show, company chief engineer Hermann-Joseph Storp said Mercedes-Benz will focus on making the S-Class even greener and one way would be to use more aluminum and carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) in the car's construction.

 

While the W221 S-Class used just over 10 percent of aluminum in its body, the new one is almost half made from aluminum. CFRP is used only in very high-end limited-run models but the material will find its way on more production models, one example would have to be the upcoming all-new BMW 5- and 7-Series.

 

The latest S-Class is up 20 percent more fuel efficient than its predecessor and the most frugal version is the S 300 BlueTEC Hybrid which returns 52.2 mpg US (67.2 mpg UK or 4.5 liters / 100 km) with CO2 emissions of 118 g/km, a remarkable figure taking into account the size and weight of the car. It will be interesting to find out by how much Mercedes-Benz will be able to improve these numbers for the next S-Class.