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Mercedes-Benz Opens New Auto Emission Test Lab

18 September 1998

Mercedes-Benz Opens New Auto Emission Test Laboratory in Long Beach, California

    LONG BEACH, Calif., Sept. 18 -- Mercedes-Benz of North
America, Inc. (MBNA) has opened a new state-of-the-art emission test
laboratory in Long Beach, California.  The 21,000-square-foot,
six-million-dollar facility replaces a smaller, 8,000-square-foot laboratory
which Mercedes-Benz had operated in Carson, Calif., for 25 years.
    "The opening of this attractive, functional facility marks the start of a
new era for Mercedes-Benz, promising even closer cooperation among
Mercedes-Benz, the California Air Resources Board and the Federal
Environmental Protection Agency," said Joe Eberhardt, vice president of
marketing for MBNA.
    The new test laboratory will be used for the measurement of vehicle
emissions during real-world durability testing of Mercedes-Benz pre-production
vehicles and for the testing of Mercedes-Benz customer-owned vehicles for
quality assurance.  It will house a full range of equipment, including one of
the first four-wheel-drive dynamometers for testing of vehicles such as the
new all-wheel-drive M-Class and E-Class models.  Developed in Southern
California, this unusual four-wheel-drive dynamometer uses leading-edge A/C
electric drive technology and can handle over 400 horsepower.
    The new laboratory will also house specialized equipment to test future
fuel-cell and battery electric vehicles for which 18 charging stations have
been prepared.  A variable-volume test cell will measure vehicle evaporative
emissions.  The operation will use the latest emission analyzers which can
measure the concentration of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and oxides of
nitrogen, as well as other compounds such as aldehydes, ketones and alcohols.
    The state-of-the-art testing equipment can also be contracted to other
automotive and supplier companies that can benefit from such valuable,
specialized services.
    Mercedes-Benz operates one other emission test laboratory in Ann Arbor,
Mich., that also offers a full range of exhaust and evaporative emission test
services for research and development work, certification and in-use vehicle
testing.
    The Long Beach Emission Test Laboratory is located at 4035 Via Oro Avenue
in the South Bay Business Park in Long Beach and employs six.