Mercedes S 500 Plug-In Hybrid price & specs – costs from £87,965

The Mercedes S500 Plug-in Hybrid will cost from £87,965 in the UK, return official economy of 100.9mpg, have emissions of 65g/km and do 0-62mph in 5.2 seconds.

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It’s more than a year since the Mercedes S500 Plug-in Hybrid was revealed, and now it’s finally going on sale in the UK and, if your pockets are deep enough, it offers a perfect ‘cake and eat it’ car.

Under the skin there’s a 3.0 litre V6 biturbo delivering 329bhp and an electric motor adding a further 116bhp which together give the S500 Plug-in the ability to blat to 62mph in just 5.2 seconds but return official economy of 100.9 mpg and emissions of a measly 65g/km.

That combination means that you won’t have to pay Boris to drive through London, and your BIK rate will be a very modest 5 per cent, making the S500 plug-in Hybrid a perfect choice for every board member in the country currently paying 35 per cent on their petrol S500, BMW 7 Series or Audi A8.

Of course, the key to all this is the daft way ‘official’ economy and emissions are measured, and Mercedes has done a good job of integrating the electric motor and 8.7kWh lithium-ion batteries – good for 20 miles as an EV on a two hour charge – to create a luxurious, high-performance saloon that ‘games’ the system with mad economy figures you’ll never see unless you do all short trips with a high quantity of EV running.

Spec for the S500 Plug-in is based on the regular long wheelbase S500 AMG Line, which means plenty of toys and luxuries including 19″ AMG alloys, LED intelligent lights, COMAND, AMG body kit, Leather, front seat memory pack and noise insulating glass.

Production of the new Mercedes S500 Plug-in Hybrid starts next month, with first UK deliveries expected in late November.