Mercedes-Benz E-Class Estate

Is this large, luxurious estate at its mile-munching best with unconventional diesel-electric hybrid power? We're running one to find out

- STUART MILNE

HISTORY IS LITTERED with musical supergroups boasting phenomenal talent but which never really made much of a dent on the charts: Jimmy Page and Paul Rodgers in The Firm; the Taylors from Duran Duran and Robert Palmer in The Power Station. Yet the same concept has delivered huge success for the likes of the Foo Fighters, Mike + The Mechanics and Traveling Wilburys. It’s a point I was mulling over as I collected my new E-Class Estate from Mercedes-Benz’s vast showroom in Brooklands, Surrey. I was particularly excited to take delivery because the E300de model blends two bits of automotive brilliance: a long-legged diesel engine and the serenity and zero-emissions ability of a plugin hybrid (PHEV). And over the next few months, I'll find out whether it’s top of the pops or lands outside the top 40.

Early signs have been positive, starting when I met product specialist Danisz Barczynski. He took me on a tour of the impressive venue, which sits on the edge of the iconic Brooklands racing circuit. Customers receive a bit of VIP treatment and take delivery in a swanky handover bay.