We know, we know: air conditioning isn’t the most exciting of topics for Mercedes-Benz.
You’d rather hear about AMG, or horsepower, or self-driving, or super cool photos of futuristic new models.
But this is North Carolina, where the summers get hot, and when you need A/C, you need it bad. The problem is that there are more 1.2 billion cars on the world’s roads.
Mercedes-Benz asked: what happens to the environment if everyone runs his or her air conditioning at the same time?
New System Will Improve Mileage and Lower Fuel Consumption
To solve for this problem, Mercedes-Benz is introducing a new form of coolant to its A/C systems: liquid carbon dioxide. It’s much better for the environment than the current coolant, R123a, which has been the standard for 25 years.
How much better? Well, let’s look at it on a scale. The European Union rates chemicals like these with a global warming potential (GWP) score.
The old A/C, R123a, got a GWP score of 1,300, which is really bad.
New E.U. regulations call for A/C coolants with a score under 150.
Mercedes-Benz’s new coolant, liquid carbon dioxide, has a score of 1.
How Did They Do It?
That’s amazing. It means that Mercedes-Benz is far below the legal limit of how much it could pollute. 99.3% below the limit, to be precise.
The first Mercedes-Benz vehicles to use this new type of air conditioning will be the E- and S-Class models in 2016.
Additional benefits of liquid carbon dioxide is that it is non-flammable—which means it can’t ignite—and it is far more efficient at providing cooling than any other chemical. So your vehicle won’t use as much fuel to run the A/C and you’ll get better mileage.
Mercedes-Benz says that it has plans to introduce this technology to all models, such as the C-Class, in the future. So, if you’d like to do one for the environment, think Mercedes-Benz.
For a new E- and S-Class with this technology, come by our showroom in 2016 to see one of these new models.