Mercedes is the latest German car company to back away from its plans for electric cars

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The Volkswagen brand, the company at the heart of the Volkswagen Group, was extremely enthusiastic about electric cars after the painful and extremely humiliating Dieselgate fiasco came to light in 2015. It fired all the officials from their top management positions and promised to atone for its sins by moving to a powered car industry. With electrons instead of molecules. But this week, the Volkswagen brand said it was scaling back its electric vehicle ambitions and would include more hybrids in its product mix. Shortly thereafter, Mercedes also changed its plans for electric cars significantly.

Powerhouse Mercedes now says it miscalculated when it said it would only sell electric cars by 2030. It now says it will continue to make cars with “electrified internal combustion engines” into the next decade, according to a report from powerhouse Mercedes. Handelsblatt. The German newspaper says that four company insiders told it that Mercedes stopped developing the MB.EA-Large platform due to disappointing sales of the electric cars it currently offers. In particular, customers have turned away from the EQS, the large battery-electric luxury sedan that is the standard bearer for Mercedes electric cars. The budget for the MB.EA-Large platform amounted to several billion dollars, and Mercedes had to make “difficult cuts” to scale back its ambitions in the field of electric cars, the sources said.

Originally, Mercedes had two different versions in mind for the MB.EA platform. The MB.EA-Medium will form the basis for the C-Class and GLC, while the MB.EA-Large will serve as a platform for large electric cars such as the S-Class, GLS, E-Class and GLE. But now that MB.EA-Large has been suspended, production of Mercedes’ future large luxury models will partly rely on the current EVA2 architecture. EVA2 is the 400V platform on which the EQE and EQS sedan and SUV models are based. There are rumors that EVA2 may be about to switch to 800V. However, this has not been confirmed.

when electrical I asked Mercedes to comment about Handelsblatt Story A company spokesperson said in general terms that Mercedes is using “sustained efficiencies between the new and existing model series” to further develop its product range and that market conditions and customer desires determine the pace of transformation. “We will build the perfect Mercedes for every customer requirement. We will be able to flexibly offer vehicles with fully electric drive systems and high-tech electric combustion engines well into the 2030s. To this end, production is set up to allow the company to build whatever cars its customers need.”

Mercedes is reconsidering its electric car strategy

The definition of “high-tech electrified combustion engines” can be a bit vague. This could refer to plug-in hybrid cars like the ones Volkswagen makes now, or it could mean conventional hybrid cars. Although whether Mercedes customers would want to drive a $100,000 version of the Toyota Prius is debatable. It could also point to “mild hybrid” technology that uses 48-volt systems to add a pound-feet or two of torque to help move a large Mercedes down the road. What Mercedes seems to be saying here is that we need to build cars that we can sell at a profit, regardless of where the powertrain comes from.

according to HandelsblattThe end of development of the MB.EA-Large platform is part of a larger strategic reorientation at Mercedes. The background to this is said to be a miscalculation by Group CEO Ola Källenius, who expected electric car sales to increase more quickly than before. At its annual meeting on May 15, 2024, Källenius said: “In the coming years, there will be ultra-modern electric cars and electrified combustion engines, if the demand is there, until the 2030s.” He assured the public that Mercedes remains focused on zero emissions manufacturing. “This is certain, but the transformation may take longer than expected,” he said.

Mercedes once planned to sell only electric cars by the end of the decade. Although this plan is hedged with the phrase “where market conditions permit”. Plug-in hybrids are no longer sold either. The interim target of 50 percent electric cars and 50 percent internal combustion engines in 2025 remains the target, but hybrids will be counted as electric cars when this calculation is made.

Changing the goal posts in its electrification plan will have an impact on the entire Mercedes model lineup. The life cycles of important combustion engine model series must now be extended and money spent on model upgrades, according to Handelsblatt. “In the coming years, Mercedes will face the very expensive and complex task of modernizing its range of combustion engines and electric cars,” she says.

Forbes He said this week that recent comments by Ola Källenius represent the most caution the automaker’s CEO has shown about the future of electric vehicles. Automakers Rivian and Lucid, which only sell electric cars, have said they expect production to stabilize this year, while Elon Musk has warned that Tesla expects much slower sales growth in 2024. Some automakers, especially Ford and GM, have canceled models or Construction of new plants has been postponed in response to slowing electric vehicle sales. In the United States, electric car sales accounted for approximately 8% of total sales last year, while in Europe they accounted for 13% of new car sales. While concerns about charging time and reliability remain, sales are still on the rise. Forbes Notes.

Ready meals

Evidence that Mercedes may have miscalculated when it comes to electric cars is that sales of its flagship EQS have been disappointing. Originally, the car came without the traditional Mercedes star on the bonnet – no doubt in the pursuit of aerodynamic efficiency – but now the EQS proudly wears that star, a symbol that people have been known to make Faustian deals with the devil to obtain. The battery size has also been increased to juice the range numbers a bit.

It seems like the entire automotive world has suddenly fallen in love with the idea of ​​hybrids, perhaps because the fear of a dead battery on a dark night somewhere east of South Succotash is so strong that they’ll do anything to extinguish it. Many drivers won’t bother delivering the damn thing, preferring to just drive on gas instead. They’ll pay a few extra euros for the badge on the back that makes them look like they’re doing their bit for climate justice while failing to take advantage of the technology lurking under the bonnet that makes it possible to drive without producing a lot of carbon pollution. .

The electric vehicle revolution seems to have hit a speed bump, and automakers everywhere are suddenly in love with hybrids. We can’t know for sure, but we suspect this phase may last for two to three years until charging infrastructure and battery technology can deliver the performance drivers expect. The only thing we can be sure of is that millions of hybrid cars will not produce the sharply lower emissions the world needs from transportation in order to slow the rise in average global temperatures.