Mercedes will launch 10 electric cars by 2025
The first will be sold in early 2017 under Mercedes' new EQ sub-brand.
The Mercedes-Benz logo is seen before the company's annual news conference in Stuttgart, Germany.
Michaela Rehle/Reuters/File
Mercedes-Benz on Thursday confirmed plans for 10 electric cars by 2025.
That’s less than the 30 electric cars the Volkswagen Group is planning for the same date, though it’s still significant considering the smaller volumes of the luxury segment in which Mercedes competes.
The first of Mercedes’ volume electric cars will be an SUV previewed by the Generation EQ concept unveiled at the 2016 Paris auto show. It will be sold under Mercedes’ new EQ sub-brand.
Mercedes on Thursday also confirmed that the electric SUV will be built at its plant in Bremen, Germany. The plant is the lead plant for the C-Class and GLC models. It will also produce the GLC F-CELL hydrogen fuel cell car.
The GLC F-CELL will have limited availability in 2017 while the EQ electric SUV will arrive before the end of the decade. (The market launch will likely be in 2019.) The electric SUV will be followed shortly by a sedan at the EQ brand. They will offer a range of 300 miles or more on a single charge.
The vehicles will ride on a “skateboard” style platform where the batteries are stored in the floor and an electric motor is mounted at one or both axles. Mercedes previewed the platform during a tech briefing in June.
Germany’s automakers are rushing to launch new electric cars due to the improvements made to battery technology in recent years as well as more generous incentive programs, particularly in China.
They are also getting into the battery business, with Mercedes to source lithium-ion batteries from fellow Daimler subsidiary Accumotive.