Click the ML320 BLUETEC for a high res gallery

Mercedes-Benz kicked off the race to the finish line for 50-state legal, urea-injected diesels this week with a first drive in Vermont. Mercedes chose Vermont for the international media debut of its BLUETEC diesel SUVs for the scenic vistas and the fact that the Green Mountain state is one of the states that has chosen to enforce California emissions standards. Those emission standards are by far the tightest in the world, particularly when it comes to diesel engines. The Tier 2 Bin 5 standard regulates emissions of nitrogen oxides to one fifth the level of the upcoming Euro 5 emissions standards.

A whole new batch of T2B5 compliant diesel-powered vehicles are on their way to U.S. car dealers starting this summer with the VW Jetta TDI. Mercedes aims to beat BMW to market with larger diesel vehicles. The existing ML320, GL320 and R320 CDI models are only available for sale in 45 states. The CDI models are being replaced for 2009 by BlueTec models that add selective catalytic reduction (SCR) after-treatment systems to the existing particulate filter and oxidation catalyst. Mercedes is already the first manufacturer to get T2B5 certification. Read on after the jump to find out how they behave on the road.


Photos Copyright ©2008 Sam Abuelsamid / Weblogs, Inc.

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The news out this morning that the three Mercedes-Benz BlueTEC SUVs will be available in all fifty states in the fall (aka election time) was turned into faux political rally during the Benz press event here at the New York Auto Show. The spiel was that the diesel SUVs - the R 320 BlueTEC, the ML 320 BlueTEC and the GL 320 BlueTEC - are the "clean" candidates for your vote/dollar. Somehow Benz roped in about 80 people to wear "Vote For BlueTEC" buttons and cheer for the cars. We'll have a video of all this hoopla later after the jump, but we wanted to bring you pictures straightaway.

At September's Frankfurt Motor Show Mercedes-Benz showed off an array of more efficient vehicles including diesels, HCCI and hybrids. Two of the new models are now rolling into Mercedes showrooms in Europe in the form of additions to the E-Class lineup. The new E300 Bluetec brings the latest urea-injected clean diesel technology to European drivers in a big sedan or wagon. The 211 hp V-6 yields over 31 mpg (US) on the EU combined driving cycle. Over on the gasoline-fueled side of the family, the E350 CGI is live action not computer generated imagery. The new second-generation direct injection system first appeared last year in the CLS 350 and now gives the E-Class an extra 15 hp while improving mileage to 27 mpg on the EU cycle, an improvement of ten percent.

[Source: Mercedes-Benz]