The Mercedes A-Class E-Cell production has been announced and will become the third all-electric model from Daimler AG after the Smart and the B-Class F-Cell. The production announced will be on a small scale as these models are still not intended for the mass market, althought the electric A-Class will follow the same design as the standard A-Class, meaning that electric models are slowly emerging from their quirky niche.

Using the standard A-Class model as a base has also saved the otherwise hefty investment needed for the development of a new model and indicates that we might eventually see a series model of the electric car. The Mercedes A-Class E-Cell will initially be produced in 500 units destined for a leasing program mostly in Germany, France and the Netherlands. It is equipped with two lithium ion battery packs placed under the platform base of the car that together produce 36 kW. The motor produces 95 hp and an impressive 290 Nm of torque.

Those figures can be expanded to show that this is not your piddly little electric vehicle to putter about the city in; the Mercedes A-Class E-Cell can reach 60 km/hr in 5.5 seconds and has a top speed of 150 km/hr. That still makes for an urban car, but it’s one that is more powerful and serviceable than previous electric city cars we’ve seen. The electric A-Class has a range of 200 km and offers all the comforts of the standard model including room for five people and a large boot measuring 435 litres.

A traditional 230 V outlet can recharge the car in eight hours, but with higher voltage outlets that can decrease to three hours. The car is being produced at the Rastatt factory which will have an additional investment from Daimler of 600 million euros by 2012. They won’t all be dedicated strictly to electric technology, with improvements to the production line of body parts and painting, but it shows that Daimler is serious and we wonder if we won’t see a full production version of the A-Class E-Cell before too long.

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