In an online press conference today, July 22, Ola Kallenius, CEO of Mercedes, announced that from 2025 every Mercedes model will have an electric alternative and in 2030 the era of the thermal engine will end for Mercedes.
As a result of the EU’s proposed “Fit for 55” plan, Mercedes has reshaped its electrical strategy. Initially, Mercedes planned to give up the thermal engine in 2039 in advance of the Paris agreement which provides for carbon neutrality in 2050. Thanks to the new plan, Mercedes has decided to give up the thermal engine in 2030. Also, the percentage of electrified cars sold (PHEV and BEV vehicles) will increase from 25% as planned to 50% in 2025.
Ola Kallenius has confirmed that the first electric model on the MMA platform for compact and middle class will debut in 2024, a year earlier than expected.
“We will move from Electric first to Electric Only”, says Kallenius.
This means that Mercedes will completely change its electrical strategy and will no longer develop platforms dedicated to electric propulsion that can be adapted for PHEV or conventional propulsion, but only 100% electric platforms.
Thus, from 2025, Mercedes will have only three platforms:
– MB.EA for large and luxury classes
– AMG.EA for AMG
– VAN.EA for vans and commercial vehicles
This means that the current MEA platform for EQS, EQE, EQS SUV and EQE SUV will survive only 4 years.
8 gigafactories around the world
Mercedes is building eight gigafactories all around the world that will have a production capacity of 200 GWh. Of these, four will be in Europe and one will serve plants in Charleston and Tuscalooosa, USA.
Europe will remain in the heart of autoindustry in electric era, says Kallenius.
The batteries will be standardized. 90% of Mercedes electric models will use the same modular battery in which only chemistry and battery height will vary. Mercedes also estimates an increase in the density of energy stored in the battery by 20% compared to EQS. Thus, Mercedes believes that a density of 900 Wh/l can be reached. In parallel, a decrease in the cost of batteries is expected at a price below 100 euro/ kWh stored in the battery. Mercedes is also working to improve the efficiency of its electric models and announces that consumptions of less than 10 kWh/100 km will be possible.
On the other hand, Ola Kallenius sends a harsh message to EU officials. Industry and governments must work together but the job of Mercedes is to remain on the industry side.
In other words, Mercedes will build electric cars, but governments need to take care of the charging station network. A similar message has been sent in recent months by Stellantis boss Carlos Tavarez and BMW boss Oliver Zipse.
Mercedes has 30,000 charging stations under construction, of which 10,000 are high-power DC stations. Through the Mercedes me Charge system Mercedes offers a simplified billing procedure for 530,000 stations in the world: a single monthly bill no matter where you have supplied it.
Also, with the new Mercedes EQS, the new Plug & Charge system is launched, in which users will be able to charge the batteries without authentication and payment will be made automatically.
Mercedes also announced the acquisition of the British electric motor manufacturer YASA, which will produce motors for AMG in particular. Regarding the MMA platform, Mercedes officially announced today that it will operate at 800V and will benefit from the new eATS 2.0 motors developed in-house.
[…] Credit: Original article published by Benz News Blog News. […]