The new Mercedes E300 BlueTEC Hybrid offers a nice balance between great fuel economy and satisfying performance. To try and prove this point to the British public, Mercedes Benz UK came up with a rather unusual challenge. It included driving the 830 miles distance between the most southern and most northern airports in Britain on a single tank, and doing high speed runs on the runways.

So before the car set off on its long journey across the country, they put on the runway at Newquay Cornwall Airport – the most southern active airport in mainland Britain. There that hit 0 to 62 mph in just over seven seconds and achieved a top speed of 136 mph.

After that the E300 Hybrid was driven normally through city traffic and motorways, in different weather conditions, to Wick Airport in Scotland – the most northern airport. The runway at Wick was considerably shorter than the one at Newquay, but still the car managed to hit 120 mph.

During this challenge the big Merc achieved average fuel economy of 67.3 mpg. Theoretically, the car is capable of reaching 150 mph top speed, and travel a distance of 1,100 miles on a single tank of fuel.

In the UK prices for the Mercedes E-Class Hybrid start at £39,645.00 OTR for the saloon and £41,435.00 OTR for the estate.