During an interview with the influential German portal Handelsblatt, Markus Schäfer, Daimler’s head of Mercedes research, has indicated that they value electrification more than ever because they see that the expansion is still faster than expected. But this decision “will depend on factors such as the decisions taken from the public administration.”
According to the Mercedes executive, “The new regulation could drastically change the perspective of combustion engines, to a scenario that would make it almost impossible to develop or manufacture combustion engines from 2025”.
Mercedes has already accelerated some investments in its electric car program. For example, the Stuttgart-Untertürkheim motor factory is becoming a center for the development and production of electrical systems, which will allow the current production of components such as motors to be doubled.
But the cornerstone will be the own production of batteries. An aspect that many brands have placed as a top priority, but that the Mercedes council has not given the green light at the moment because of the high costs of building large facilities, and also according to the Mercedes executive, “why the race for development of the new batteries is still open, and it is not known which chemistry will be placed as the winner.”
For Mercedes, it is too early to get into mass battery production. According to the latest news, something that will have had a lot to do with the bad experience they have had with their adventure through the association with the Chinese company Farasis Energy, which according to the latest news, is not achieving an acceptable performance in its work to design its batteries. Something that has meant the delay in the start of the construction of the gigafactory Farasis was preparing in Saxony-Anhalt.
Now the question is if Mercedes’ conservative decision has a prize, achieving that the demand for cars with combustion engines is extended a few more years, making a slower transformation and with longer phases successful.