Automaker Produces 1st Fuel Cell Firefighter Vehicle

DaimlerChrysler has introduced what the automaker calls the first fuel cell-powered fire response vehicle. The Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District will operate the Mercedes-Benz F-Cell as a supervisor's vehicle in the Sacramento, Calif., area.

Fuel cells release energy from the reaction of hydrogen with a catalyst and oxygen. This clean technology operates at a high level of efficiency and is true zero-emissions. Hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles emit only pure water vapor as exhaust. The U.S. federal government is pursuing research to replace gasoline-powered cars with fuel cell vehicles and create a "hydrogen economy."

Outfitted with decals, lights, sirens and a coat of bright red paint, the Fire Service Mercedes-Benz F-Cell is a look into the future use of fuel cell vehicles. The demanding operation of the vehicle will produce valuable data to help develop fuel cell technology, DaimlerChrysler says. The new fire response F-Cell joins the first fuel cell powered police car, also built by DaimlerChrysler, which operates in Michigan with the Wayne State University Police Department. These two vehicles are the first hydrogen fuel cell powered emergency response vehicles in the world, the automaker says.

"This program exhibits how DaimlerChrysler is taking on the challenge for industries and governments to create viable alternative-fuel solutions," says Mark Chernoby, vice president - advance vehicle engineering, Chrysler Group. "We're pleased to be a driving force in this team effort to develop zero-emissions transportation."

The Fire Service Mercedes-Benz F-Cell will be refueled at a BP Energy hydrogen refueling station located at the California Fuel Cell Partnership. Delivering hydrogen fuel cell vehicle experience to the fire service, the F-Cell contributes to the development of appropriate solutions for hydrogen transportation safety.

DaimlerChrysler says it has spent more than $1 billion in fuel cell vehicle research and development. No other manufacturer has accumulated more data or driven more zero-emissions miles -- almost 2 million, the company adds.

The DaimlerChrysler fuel cell vehicle fleet is diverse -- in addition to several research vehicles, it also includes medium-duty fuel cell Dodge Sprinter vans and more than 35 Mercedes-Benz Citaro fuel cell buses, which operate in Europe, the United States, Japan, Australia and Singapore. As part of the world's largest fleet of fuel cell vehicles, DaimlerChrysler has 32 fuel cell vehicles in customer hands within the United States and more than 100 around the world.

The Mercedes-Benz F-Cell is a reflection of DaimlerChrysler's leadership in fuel cell technology, the company boasts. The entire fuel cell system is housed in the floor of the vehicle, leaving full use of the passenger and cargo spaces. It has a range of approximately 100 miles and a top speed of 85 mph. The electric motor develops 88 hp (65 kW), enabling acceleration from 0 to 60 mph in 16 seconds. The fuel cell stack has been developed by theDaimlerChrysler cooperation partner, Ballard Power Systems.


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DaimlerChrysler Chief Highlights Next-Gen Biodiesel Vehicles

The international head of automaker DaimlerChrysler is calling U.S. attention to his company's new line of cleaner diesel vehicles to improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions.

Today at the Washington (D.C.) Auto Show, Dieter Zetsche, chairman of the board of management of DaimlerChrysler AG and the head of Mercedes Car Group, called attention to the new generation of clean diesels -- branded BLUETEC-- while encouraging U.S. lawmakers to set regulations that support adiversity of approaches to reducing the country's dependence on foreign oil.

To emphasize the point, he introduced the 2007 Dodge Ram 2500 and 3500 with 6.7-liter Cummins turbodiesel engine offered with B5 and B20 biodiesel, available to consumers in March. The first to do so and three years before the deadline, the heavy duty truck will meet stringent 2010 truck emissions standards in all 50 states, the automaker says. He also announced the Dodge Ramclean, light-duty turbodiesel engine that will provide up to 30-percent improved fuel economy, meet 50-state, 2010 emissions standards, availableafter 2009. With fuel economy improvements of 20 to 40 percent and a reduction of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) by as much as 90 percent, Zetsche stressed that clean diesel technology is a viable solution to reducing dependence on oil and improving air quality.

Zetsche also urged U.S. policymakers to stimulate greater demand and consumer choice for fuel-saving technologies --such as diesel -- by providing equal incentives on powertrains that achieve lower fuel consumption with clean emissions.

"American policy-makers must adopt a new and unique formula ... that encourages more technologies and more [customer] choice," says Zetsche."I've always thought CAFE -- in the country that is the world's model for a free- market economy -- to be a bit of a contradiction. It's an attempt to regulate supply and not to use market forces to stimulate demand for more fuel- efficient vehicles."

Zetsche says that "trying to sell people what they don't want is not a winnable business proposition. And it is that 'anti-free market element' of CAFE that makes life difficult for us. We've learned to live with CAFE and its modest increases."

Zetsche says that the automotive companies should "look toinnovation, and to increasingly substituting petroleum products with biofuels." He pointed to the modern diesel engine which has "plenty of the former, and great potential for the latter."

The Mercedes brand has been pioneering BLUETEC in Europe, where it's been on the road for several years. Since 2005, the company has sold more than 40,000 BLUETEC Mercedes-Benz trucks and buses in Europe, "where they've performed exceptionally well in everyday heavy-duty service," adds Zetsche.

Mercedes-Benz intends to systematically broaden its BLUETEC portfolio. In addition to the recently introduced Mercedes E 320 BLUETEC, three additional BLUETEC models will join the line-up, the R-Class, the ML-Class and the GL Class that will all be assembled at the company's plant in Alabama.

He also says that DaimlerChrysler "is not pursuing diesel to the exclusion of other alternate fuel technologies." Zetsche lists many on-going initiatives including the company's fuel cell activities where DaimlerChrysler has invested more than $1 billion and has more fuel-cellvehicles on the road today than any other manufacturer.

BLUETEC represents the cleanest diesel vehicles in the world, accodring to the company. These next- generation vehicles meet the most stringent emissions regulationsworldwide, including emissions standards in all 50 U.S. states.

BLUETEC is the DaimlerChrysler-owned brand name that stands for the cleanest diesel engines in their respective classes, i.e., those that meet 50- state emissions standards, the automaker says. BLUETEC is just one of the many fuel saving technologies from DaimlerChrysler, including advanced gasoline, Flex-Fuel, hybrids and zero-emission fuel-cell vehicles, it adds.


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DaimlerChrysler Warns of Lottery Fraud

Consumers across the United States have received fraudulent letters from the so-called Ontario Lottery and Gaming Commission in Canada claiming they've won $170,000, according to phony documents obtained by DaimlerChrysler Financial Services Americas.

The letters contain counterfeit checks allegedly issued by "DaimlerChrysler Services" and "DaimlerChrysler Services Truck Finance" in the amount of $2,260. The company on January 1, 2006, changed the names of those units to DaimlerChrysler Financial Services and DaimlerChrysler Truck Financial.

"We care about the well-being and financial health of consumers," says Andreas Hinrichs, vice president global projects and chief compliance officer for DaimlerChrysler Financial Services Americas. "Therefore, we felt strongly about alerting the public to this ongoing criminal activity, especially when con artists victimize consumers by pretending to be associated with us."

Hinrichs also serves as chairman of the American Financial Services
Association's newly-formed Identity Theft and Fraud Control Committee.

As part of the con, recipients of the letters are asked to deposit the
check to cover a service charge of the same amount in order to receive
their winnings. However, before the check clears, recipients are requested
to call a representative of the phony lottery and gaming commission who
instructs the recipient to send a personal check via electronic transfer
for $2,260 to "finalize the payment process." Not surprisingly, the
original phony check never clears and the promised payout of $170,000 never
arrives. In the meantime, the recipient's funds in the amount of $2,260
have disappeared.

DaimlerChrysler Financial Services Americas posted fraud alerts on its
corporate Web sites. The automotive finance company encourages victims to file a consumer fraud complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) either by calling the FTC's Consumer Response Center toll free at 877-FTC HELP (382-4357) or by downloading and submitting a complaint form online.



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