Celebs Are Just Loving The Mercedes S400 Hybrid Electric Car at 19 MPG City? Try the Eucalyptus wood trim..

The S400 Hybrid is equipped with lithium-ion batteries and works in combination with a 20-horsepower electric motor and a 275-hp, 3.5-liter V6 gasoline engine.  It delivers a measly  EPA mileage ratings of 19 MPG city and 26 MPG highway. However, I have to give credit to Mercedes on their sustainable interior.

Celebrities Love This Mercedes S400 Hybrid Electric Car!
As the official vehicle of the 22nd Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival, Mercedes-Benz provided environmentally friendly luxury vehicles for Hollywood’s elite. The Festival, which runs from January 6-17, 2011, starts the winter awards season with a spectacular program of films and a celebrity filled red-carpet gala.

The two week celebration of films kicked-off with the Gala Awards Dinner on January 8th, where celebrity presenters and honorees such as Amy Adams, Mark Wahlberg, Natalie Portman, Colin Firth, Carey Mulligan, Helen Mirren, Taylor Hackford, Aaron Eckhart, Oliver Stone, James Franco, Amy Ryan, Rashida Jones and Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network), Ben Affleck, Robert Duvall, director David O Russell (The Fighter), Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire), Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan) and songwriter Diane Warren (Burlesque) were driven in Mercedes-Benz 2011 S400 HYBRID luxury sedans.  When the S400 HYBRID is at a traffic light, for example, the gasoline engine is off, but the AC compressor and steering pump are operated electrically, so air conditioning and power steering are fully operational. When the brakes are released, the gasoline engine is started automatically, and works with the electric motor for seamless performance

During braking, the electric motor acts as a generator, recovering kinetic energy and storing it in the lithium-ion battery. Under heavy braking, the vehicle’s conventional brakes provide supplemental stopping power. Recovered energy is stored in the battery and re-used whenever the electric motor is running.

19 MPG and 26 Percent Efficiency?!

While, it’s only a 26% improvement when compared to the V8-powered S550 sedan but it’s a start (I guess)…

Even Robert Downey Jr owns one as seen here.

 

Try The Eucalyptus wood trim. It’s Fabulous!! LOL.  No, It Really Is

While I was reading the interior information, I was glad to see the sustainability measures for the wood interior.  Instead of TREE WOOD, they use hand-polished dark brown Eucalyptus wood trim on the console, dash and doors, lending the S400 HYBRID cockpit a further air of SUSTAINABILITY.

According to Ashley Strickland on Social Yell:

Businesses like REI are now selling products made from eucalyptus wood because they claim that the trees grow quickly and “offer a strong, durable hardwood that has been harvested sustainably in Vietnam for years.” This is also true for the neem tree, which is said to grow quickly and have pest-reducing/resistant qualities.

Eucalyptus trees have a multitude of benefits, besides just producing beautiful furniture.  The trees are fast-growing and can be chopped off at the root so they can grow back.  They are also a great cash crop in their native environments and the oil can be used as a natural insecticide or in cleaning products.  Eucalyptus trees have also proved well in swamp draining in areas with risk of malaria.  They are even said to reduce erosion and provide windbreaks where they are planted and their cellulose can be extracted for use in biofuels.  One downside is that eucalyptus tends to be an invasive plant where they aren’t wanted (water drainage) and the oil in the trees is so flammable that trees have been known to explode!  And it is wise to leave them alone concerning natural habitats, like in parts of Australia, because koalas depend on the leaves for food.

The neem tree, on the other hand, is said to treat 40 different diseases and is known to be extremely drought resistant.  A healing plant, all parts of the tree are used for medicinal purposes from skin treatments to relieving fever to treating chicken pox to even possibly providing anti-diabetic properties.  It is also a natural insect repellant and can control nearly 500 different kinds of pests.  Rather than killing insects, mites and ticks right away, the oil from the neem tree seems to neutralize their growth and ability to reproduce.  Neem trees are currently being studied as having the potential to prevent malaria.

These both sound like great solutions for various problems we seem to be facing in the quest to go green and become sustainable. Only time will tell if harnessing the uses of these trees can make a big difference in preserving our natural world.

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