Mercedes-Benz F-CELL World Drive in Europe: Legs 1-5
The B-Class F-CELL vehicles will leave Europe via airplane, in order to carry on their journey in the USA on February 25, 2011
by John Clark | 14 February 2011
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Leg 1: The first leg of the F-CELL World Drive started on 30th January 2011 at 8:00 a.m. in Stuttgart, Germany. The vehicles first drove to Reims, via Loudres, where the first refuelling stop took place. The three B-Class F-CELL vehicles finally arrived at their destination Paris at noontime on 31st January. During the first leg, the three fuel cell vehicles covered a distance of 660 kilometres, while driving locally emission free.
Leg 2: The second leg began in the early morning of 2nd February 2011 in Paris and led through Sermoise sur Loire, where the vehicles were refuelled for the first time, straight to Lyon. The three B-Class F-CELL vehicles covered a distance of 500 kilometers – locally emission-free. One day before, on 1st February, the first press-event of the F-CELL World Drive offered local journalists the opportunity to see for themselves that the B-Class F-CELL is technically mature.
Leg 3: On 4th February 2011, the third leg of the F-CELL World Drive led the vehicles to Perpignan in France. The day after, the vehicles embarked on a 200 kilometers journey towards the Spanish coastal town of Barcelona. The vehicles covered an overall distance of about 690 kilometers. On 3rd February, the second event for local media took place in Lyon.
Leg 4: The third press-event of more than 20 similar activities during the F-CELL World Drive, took place on 7th February in Barcelona. On 8th February 2011, the three B-Class F-CELL vehicles travelled further to Valencia. One day later, the Tour continued their journey towards the Spanish capital Madrid. 700 kilometers were added to the mileage during the fourth leg.
Leg 5: After the forth press event of the F-CELL World Drive in Madrid, the vehicles travelled for two days from 11th until 12th February – due to an overnight stop in Badajoz – to reach the Portuguese capital Lisbon. On the last leg in Europe, the vehicles have covered a distance of more than 660 kilometers. Every single B-Class F-CELL has travelled a total of 3,250 kilometers during the first part of the F-CELL World Drive, not including the distances, the cars covered in the course of local activities. All in all, each of the vehicles will achieve a mileage of about 4,000 kilometers. After another press day on February 14th in Cascais, close to Lisbon, the vehicles will leave Europe via airplane, in order to carry on their journey in the USA on February 25, 2011.