Early on, attempts were made to develop vehicles with electric drives. Mercedes tested this back in 1982 with the W123 electric drive. Due to the fuel crisis of 1979, a special touring station wagon was equipped with a hybrid electric drive for experimental tests. This drive consisted of a 41 hp electric motor (range 100 km) and a 2-cylinder range extender engine (for a further 50 km range). Unfortunately, the engineers experienced so many setbacks during testing in 1982 and 1983 that the whole project was shelved. Parallel to these tests, Mercedes presented the first battery-electric research car of the W123 series with a 30kW (41hp) electric drive and nickel-iron battery in Hanover in 1982.
