The Mercedes B-Class F-CELL is anything but "B-class." It will be the first fuel cell electric vehicle to go into batch production, and more units are estimated to go into production beginning in 2013-2015. The 200 units will be distributed only in Europe and the United States.

Fuel cell technology is essential to the future success of the B-Class, because it is one of the key elements of the green movement in the automotive industry. Fuel cells work by producing electricity by converting the chemicals hydrogen and oxygen into water. This allows cars to be twice as efficient as "traditional" cars with internal combustion engines, because per 100 kilometres, the fuel cell only consumes an equivalent of 3.3 litres of diesel fuel (NEDC).

Mercedes claims to offer “driving pleasure and day-to-day suitability at Mercedes level.” This car may be built for the eco-conscious, but it certainly isn’t your average tree-hugging, hippie mobile. The B-Class boasts leather seats, aluminum applications and a thermotronic system, which allows both passenger and driver to set their own separate temperatures. It also has light-alloy wheels, a chrome trim, and with a cold-start capacity up to -25 C – it really is a wonder why they’re not bringing it to Canada just yet.

Although the B-Class has been relatively well received by critics, it is not without its challenges. In order to successfully break into a large-scale, mainstream market, there is a kink in the fuel cell vehicle world that needs ironing out: Fueling stations need to be built for the B-Class, as well as other fuel cell vehicles.

Daimler AG is said to be in partnership with Stuttgart, a car manufacturer, to create an electricity charging and refueling infrastructure in Germany. They presented their plan to the Federal Ministry of Transport in September 2009. Along with the obvious issue of how long it is going to take to build that kind of sophisticated infrastructure on a global scale, there are other challenges. David J.C. MacKay, author of the book “Sustainable Energy — Without the Hot Air” writes, “Hydrogen is a less convenient energy storage medium than most liquid fuels, because of its bulk, whether stored as a high pressure gas or as a liquid (which requires a temperature of -253 C).”

For now, Mercedes is just going to have to clean the world one fuel cell at a time. •