Mercedes S400 li-ion hybrid will use Continental battery

The Mercedes-Benz S400 BlueHybrid that was announced Friday, will likely be the first production lithium ion hybrid in the world. The important milestone here is the lithium ion battery chemistry, something that Reuters is giving us more information about. The S-class' li-ion cell will be supplied by Continental, which the tea leaves kind of predicted a few months ago. The S400 installs could give the battery maker a potential head start in its effort to beat Korea's LG Chem to produce the batteries for the Chevy Volt. A GM spokesperson told Reuters that both LG and Conti's batteries look encouraging to the automaker, so the advantage of being first on the market may not be as powerful as I suspect.

[Source: Reuters]