Mercedes-Benz Going All-Electric By 2030, Building Eight More Battery Plants

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--German auto giant Mercedes-Benz (Stuttgart, Germany) has announced plans to go all-electric by 2030 and will set up eight additional electric vehicle (EV) battery factories with existing partners to support the massive shift in strategy.

Mercedes-Benz aims to install battery cell capacity of more than 200 gigawatt-hours (GWh). This is in addition to the already planned network of nine plants dedicated to building battery systems, some of which are already operational. By 2022, it will have battery electric vehicles (BEV) in all segments the company serves, from consumer to commercial vans and trucks. From 2025 onwards, all newly launched vehicle architectures will be electric-only and it will offer an all-electric alternative for every model the company makes. The ultimate goal is to "go all electric at the end of the decade, where market conditions allow."

"The EV shift is picking up speed - especially in the luxury segment, where Mercedes-Benz belongs," explained Ola Källenius, chief executive officer of Daimler AG and Mercedes-Benz AG. "The tipping point is getting closer, and we will be ready as markets switch to electric-only by the end of this decade. This step marks a profound reallocation of capital. By managing this faster transformation while safeguarding our profitability targets, we will ensure the enduring success of Mercedes-Benz. Thanks to our highly qualified and motivated workforce, I am convinced that we will be successful in this exciting new era."

The decision mirrors one made by fellow German automaker, Volkswagen AG (Wolfsburg), in 2019. Volkswagen, which has 12 car brands under its control, including Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche, SEAT and Skoda, is expected to spend $91 billion on electrifying vehicles with half of that investment expected to go to China. Earlier this year the company announced its intention to build six battery factories in Europe, each with a capacity of 40 GWh. The first plant is also Europe's first and largest EV battery project with battery maker Northvolt (Stockholm, Sweden) in Skellefteå, Sweden. The second is a VW-owned project with Chinese partner Gotion High-Tech to build a 40 GWh plant on a 690-acre site in Salzgitter, Germany, in 2025. In May, luxury sports car maker Porsche AG (Stuttgart, Germany), owned by VW, announced that it will construct a battery cell plant in Tubingen, Germany.

Mercedes-Benz said it will "significantly accelerate R&D" with investments into BEVs to hit 40 billion euro (US$47 billion) over the next eight years. By 2025, the company said it expects that all-electric vehicles and hybrids will make up 50% of its sales--up from a previous goal of 25%. Industrial Info is tracking all of the key Mercedes Benz/Daimler plant projects. The first factory in Kamenz has been in series production for a number of years, and a second factory there started series production at the beginning of 2019. Two more factories will be built in Stuttgart-Untertürkheim, one at the company's Sindelfingen site, and one each at the sites in Beijing (China), Bangkok (Thailand), Tuscaloosa (USA) and Jawor (Poland).

Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Industrial Manufacturing Project Database can click here for a list of related projects. Click here for a list of related plant profiles.

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