10 new Star-badged electric vehicles by 2022.
Announced at its annual shareholder meeting, Mercedes-Benz has made its electric-vehicle offensive clear. Previously, Stuttgart said that it would be bringing 10 EVs to market by 2025; However, due to pressure from the European Union, the marque will be launching its EV fleet by 2022, three years sooner than expected.
In order to make this happen, Daimler, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz and Smart, has put aside 10-billion Euros (or $14bil) to realise this electric dream. As part of the change, the company made it clear that its “corporate strategy focuses on emissions-free driving,” and that it will be using “all available means to reduce CO2 emissions.”
Naturally, a “transitional period” will see “efficient combustion engines [continue to be] a significant element of the solution.” This push to reduce emissions comes after reports emerged saying that of all the cars sold under the Daimler umbrella last year, the average CO2 output stood at 123g/km. 2016 marked the first year that Daimler was unable to throttle its carbon-dioxide outputs, with buyers favouring larger-displacement engines. Stiff fines await Daimler should it fail to hit 100g/km average by 2021.
Aside from electric vehicles, Daimler is looking to expand on its plug-in hybrid technology. The facelifted S-Class will be the first to be made available with an upgraded PHEV system, which should see the big-limo manage around 50km of pure-electric driving per charge, a significant improvement over the 33km-thereabouts achievable today.
Mercedes-Benz’s ‘EQC’ is pipped to be the first from the brand’s ‘EQ’ electric-mobility arm, previewed by the Generation EQ concept from the 2016 Paris motorshow.
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