Electric First: Mercedes-Benz is on the way to a sustainable future

In achieving the major goal of emission-free mobility, battery-electric vehicles play a decisive role. With its "Electric First" strategy, Mercedes-Benz is striving for a leading position in electromobility. We are launching a product offensive with new electric vehicle platforms and intend to set new standards in range, efficiency and charging comfort.

Electromobility is undoubtedly the key future technology for effectively advancing climate protection in the transport sector. More than one billion passenger cars are already on the roads worldwide – and the number is rising. With the growing use of regenerative energy sources, electric cars are significantly more environmentally and climate-friendly overall than diesel or gasoline cars. Since they produce no local emissions and are much quieter than conventional vehicles, they also improve the quality of life for people – especially in large cities. Last but not least, I personally think that electric cars offer a lot of driving pleasure. However, the transformation to sustainable mobility is only just beginning – there is plenty of potential to be tapped so that customers around the world switch to electric cars on a large scale. The most important things are:

• to improve the efficiency of battery technologies,
• to increase the range of the vehicles,
• expand the charging infrastructure
• and to enable fast and uncomplicated charging.

Product offensive on the starting line

Mercedes-Benz has made it its mission to actively drive this change as an innovation leader. Therefore, the motto of the drivetrain strategy is “Electric First!” With it, we are consistently expanding our portfolio of electric vehicles. For example, we will launch our first battery-electric luxury sedan, the Mercedes-Benz EQS, in 2021. The EQS will be able to cover a range of about 700 km (WLTP) on a single charge and will recharge extremely quickly with up to 200 kW – in fact, 15 minutes is enough for a range of 250 km. Numerous other electric cars are also about to be launched or will follow in the coming years. By 2025, for example, our customers will already have at least 10 fully electric vehicles and 25 plug-in hybrid variants at their disposal. And in 2030, we want more than half of our passenger-car sales to be electrified vehicles – at least as plug-in hybrids or already purely electric.

Increasing customer acceptance

In this transformation process, Mercedes-Benz – as a globally present automotive company – has to deal with many variables. State and regional regulations, specific market requirements and customer wishes – not to mention economic conditions – vary widely around the globe. While the share of electric cars is increasing rapidly in some markets, other markets are only experiencing moderate growth at a low level. In densely populated cities in particular, the opportunities for recharging car batteries are still limited in many places – there is no broad infrastructure or simply no space. Added to this is the so-called range anxiety of customers – i.e. the fear of being stranded on long-distance drives due to a lack of available charging points. So there is still a lot to be done to increase customer acceptance and to fully exploit the enormous growth potential of electric mobility worldwide. Plug-in hybrids (PIH) offer a reasonable option for many customers as an “entry” into the world of electromobility, as they combine the best of two worlds: the efficiency of an electric motor with the range of a combustion engine. With its latest generation of PiH models, Mercedes-Benz offers purely electric ranges of up to 100 kilometers, depending on the model – which means that most everyday journeys can be made locally without emissions.

Platform strategy with brains

The development towards sustainable mobility is proceeding unevenly and at different speeds. A major automotive company such as Mercedes-Benz therefore requires one skill above all else: flexibility. On one hand, we’re investing massively in new technologies and products in order to achieve the ambitious goals of our drive strategy as best and as quickly as possible. At the same time, we have to keep an eye on our costs and reduce our development expenditures for conventional drives. This is essential to operating profitably and to optimally and flexibly meet market demand. One of our answers to these challenges is an intelligent platform strategy. The aforementioned EQS is the first vehicle we’ll build on our so-called “EVA platform” – EVA stands for Electric Vehicle Architecture. We’ve redesigned this platform for our future large electric cars. An important advantage of the specially developed architecture is that it is scalable in every respect and can be used across models. Wheelbase and track width as well as all other system components, especially the batteries, are variable thanks to the modular system design. Different models can thus be built on the same production line – in addition to other sedans, SUV models can also be built. This guarantees us maximum flexibility in terms of demand and capacity utilization.

On our second electric platform, the “Mercedes-Benz Modular Architecture” (MMA), we will produce additional electric cars in the compact and mid-size segments from 2025 onwards. Every detail of these platforms will be geared towards taking our innovative strength in electromobility to a new level – from in-house production of the electric drivetrain to optimization of weight, aerodynamics, electronics, thermodynamics, software and battery technology.

In-house know-how and strong partners

We’ve strengthened our research and development team with additional specialized chemists and engineers to further enhance our battery expertise and capacity in our global production network. However, it’s quite clear that international competition for the most efficient, powerful, cost-effective and environmentally friendly batteries will intensify even further in the coming years. To stay ahead in this dynamic environment, we rely on close partnerships in the development and production of innovative battery cells that go beyond the usual relationship between car manufacturers and suppliers. This summer, for example, we launched a strategic partnership including an equity investment with the Chinese battery cell manufacturer Farasis. To meet the growing demand for the German Mercedes-Benz plants, Farasis is building a CO2-neutral battery cell plant in Bitterfeld-Wolfen, creating up to 2,000 new jobs. Other examples of new partners are CATL, a manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries also based in China, and the Californian battery specialist Sila Nanotechnologies.

We also work intensively with institutes and universities to continuously optimize cell architecture and chemistry and to achieve new leaps in technology. In addition, we are also pooling our strengths with other automotive manufacturers where this makes sense. For example, with IONITY, a joint venture of the automakers BMW Group, Ford Motor Company, Mercedes-Benz AG, Hyundai and the Volkswagen Group which includes Audi and Porsche, we are supporting the expansion of a nationwide fast-charging infrastructure along the main traffic routes of Europe.

Getting the maximum out of everything with pioneering spirit

As mentioned at the beginning, fast and easy charging is a decisive factor in convincing more and more customers of the advantages of electromobility. The Mercedes me app is also helpful in this respect, with which 80% of public charging stations can already be used via the smartphone or our MBUX infotainment system – currently, this already means well over 350,000 charging points. The system not only recommends a suitable route but also predicts which charging station is currently unoccupied.

In addition to the overarching goal of sustainable mobility, our “Electric First” strategy focuses on customer expectations. Our customers want desirable cars that set new technological standards, and we take this mission very seriously. With our “Vision EQXX” technology program, Mercedes-Benz is taking the next leap forward in development. The goal is to develop an electric vehicle with maximum efficiency and range. To this end, we have put together an interdisciplinary team including specialists from the British Mercedes-Benz F1 HPP Group. They will contribute their pioneering spirit, their expertise in electric motors and their development speed, which is common in motorsports. The findings and Innovations from this project will be incorporated into our production vehicles as quickly as possible. With this strategy, Mercedes-Benz is well equipped to master the challenges of the transformation to electromobility and to assume a leading position.