UPS Will Be Mercedes-Benz's First Corporate F-Cell Fleet Customer in the U.S.

United Parcel Service (UPS), along with other corporate and municipal customers, will lease F-Cell test cars from Mercedes-Benz in the U.S. in 2004. Fuel-cell cars are electric vehicles that make their own electric power on board instead of relying on batteries. Based on the Mercedes-Benz A-Class model currently sold abroad, the "F-Cell" fuel cell vehicle is fueled by compressed hydrogen. Mercedes-Benz displayed the latest F-Cell vehicle at the L.A. Auto Show, which opened January 4 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. During 2004, the F-Cell fleet in the U.S. will expand gradually in three areas — Detroit; Sacramento, CA, and Los Angeles. The Mercedes-Benz F-Cell fleet represents a next step in the production of zero-emission vehicles. The hydrogen-powered F-Cell cars are being built in conventional manufacturing facilities and will be tested by corporate and municipal customers for feedback in "everyday-use" situations. In the F-Cell, the entire fuel-cell system is housed between the bi-level "sandwich" floors of the A-Class, a Mercedes-Benz model not yet sold in the U.S. As a result, all the cargo- and people-carrying features of the car are preserved. About 60 Mercedes-Benz A-Class F-Cell vehicles will be on the road by the end of 2004.