B-Class Electric Drive Forum

oilerlord wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 26, 2019 5:19 pm

Peter, the B250e was never intended to be a "runaway success"

Just like a "viral video" or "retweet explosion" a product "runaway success" can't be planned.
If it happens all well and good. My comment was that MB didn't see any success and withdrew support for the B250e. Had it been better received there would have been promotion dollars and dealer rah-rah including dealer training.

oilerlord wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 26, 2019 5:19 pm

They only built the car because it allowed them to continue their business of selling SUV's.

As I suspected. I assumed it was to help raise the MB CAFE ratings, and balance sale of gas guzzler vehicles.

oilerlord wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 26, 2019 5:19 pm

Given we saw little if any marketing dollars directed to the sales of B250e's - It's a safe bet MB lost money on every B250e that rolled off the line.

Any volume below, say, 50k units, is probably a loss. Other American brands have stayed away from specialty vehicles for that reason.
I watched the B250e factory videos on YouTube. There is a staggering investment in tooling and production line equipment, plus the development of the B250e EV bits, even given that the body and interior trim was 'borrowed' from the existing B-Klass vehicles. While the motor, battery, and EV drive system, are of Tesla design, the motor had to be adapted to FWD operation.

oilerlord wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 26, 2019 5:19 pm

In all candor, every other dealer I spoke with hated selling them. The sales commission was basically non-existent, and just like the car buying public - salespeople really couldn't wrap their heads around a $50,000 100 mile car that takes 3 hours to fill up.

Human nature is to take the 'easy' way. Dealers sell the mainstream ICE cars to the average Joe (and Jo-ette) buyers.
Clearly the members here love their B250e vehicles, and find value. I doubt that was true for a new B250e vehicle sticker price of $40k - $50k. Other EVs (LEAF) or Hybrid drive (PRIUS) were much less costly.

However, think back to 2014. The Tesla Model S was a hot new alternative, the Nissan Leaf Mk.I was more affordable but a bit harder on the eyes. The Nissan Leaf had soon won the 2010 Green Car Vision Award, the 2011 European Car of the Year, the 2011 World Car of the Year, and the 2011–2012 Car of the Year Japan. This had to resonate with main stream ICE brands than needed to get their hands on EV know-how in short order.

BMW created their first mass-produced zero emissions vehicle and was launched as part of BMW's electric vehicle BMW i sub-brand. The i3 debuted as a concept at the 2011 International Motor Show Germany, and production began in July 2013 in Leipzig, Germany.

From a USA point of view MB is the 'other' German car brand (VW group having suffered during 'Diesel-gate' which came to light in late 2014)

EVs are here to stay. Even in the performance class vehicles from Tesla and others are challenging ICE vehicles. While Ford brings us the Ford Mustang Mach-E cross-over SUV EV.

May you live in interesting times!

Peter,
(Heading back for another hot-tub soak and some serious EV thinking)

Oilerlord,

Clearly a person of influence. Who knew you knew the inner secrets of where leased cars go to find their forever homes.

As to big, it is BIG when it happens to the unlucky B250e owner out of warranty and the only recourse is to write the car off and sell the parts on eBay. Fortunately, it is a small minority of these Tesla motors that crap out. Think about it folks, if this was a pervasive problem with Tesla motors, they would be dead and buried by now as a company.

I think MB should stand by their cars and step up here. After all, their engines are legendary for going over 100k without a hiccup. At the very least, they can offer an extended warranty that covers the motors.

Jeff, it's amazing to witness 300-400 vehicles auctioned off in an afternoon. Even more astounding is this happens every week at over 100 locations.

So far I have been to the dealer 4 times in the past 6 months with my 2016 250e.

First time I got a quote for "maintenance" that was about $1000, which amounted to a glorified fuid top off and new wiper blades. Oh yeah, and a battery "service".

Next time I went in for "buzzing" motor sound, and that resulted in a drivetrain replacement. Then the car "died" on the highway couple days later - according to MB there were bubbles in cooling system. So far it has been couple months and it has been running good. Oh, and I brought it in to help activate CarPlay on it. They were successful (needed firmware update for the head unit) now it works like it should. Head mechanic asked me how I liked the car and how I am using it and was I happy with it. His take was "it is a good car minus Tesla drivetrain. There are cars he replaced the drivetrain 4 times already, but supposedly Tesla has fixed it (problem is with loss of lubricating oil somewhere there). I hope that my new drivetrain lasts longer than 20k miles this time.

Otherwise, it is a fun little car to drive around town.

AndyWest,

This is sad and another notch in the return at end of lease column vs. the buy at auction column. I have had a B since 2014 and use them to scoot around town. In the winter, tend to drive my ICE cars so my annual mileage is really low. It basically allows me to avoid public transportation which I rode for many decades but still feel like I am not a horrible polluter. I would be fine with a 200 mile range EV so that will be the next lease.

i recently purchased a 2017 with 26k at time of purchase - now has 33k on it. dealer disclosed that they had to replace the motor. seems to still be an issue with later models. hoping the replacement motor is better!

Chrisoc,

Hey, great, welcome. It is overall a very reliable car. The problems were generally with the 2014s with the early Tesla motors. Then relatively rare thereafter. The replacement motor could have been new or a refurbished one. If the former, you are all set.

The dealer should have lots of information in their system from the maintenance done by the prior owner. Be sure to ask them about the last annual battery check as it is required to maintain the battery warranty. They can also let you know how far it has degraded below 99 percent. Anything in the middle 90s should be fine.

Enjoy the ride.