It is already integrating its Mercedes-EQ models into series production in its existing plants.
The six models are EQS, EQE, EQA, EQB, EQC and EQV.
From EQC to EQE
The EQC got the ball rolling with its production at the Mercedes plant in Bremen in May 2019. Just a few months later the German-Chinese production joint venture, Beijing Benz Automotive Co. Ltd. (BBAC), launched EQC production for the local market in China.
In 2020, production of the EQV premium electric MPV started in Vitoria, northern Spain.
Come 2021, the EQA SUV will start production at the Rastatt plant, with its world premiere in January.
EQB production will launch in 2021 at two locations in the global Mercedes-Benz Cars production network: in the Hungarian Mercedes-Benz plant in Kecskemét for the world market and in the German-Chinese joint venture BBAC in Beijing for the local market.
In the first half of 2021, production of the EQS electric luxury sedan will begin in Factory 56 at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Sindelfingen (Germany). EQS is the independent, fully electric member in the new S-Class program and is the first to use the new electric architecture for luxury and upper-class electric vehicles at Mercedes-Benz.
In Factory 56 the S-Class and, in the future, the Mercedes-Maybach S-Class, and the EQS will be produced in a fully flexible manner on the same line.
In the second half of 2021, the Mercedes-Benz plant in Bremen will begin production of the EQE business sedan followed shortly thereafter at the Beijing plant. The EQE will complement the all-electric portfolio of the two plants.
Production of the EQS and EQE SUV models will start in 2022 at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Tuscaloosa (USA).
High-efficiency battery systems will also be manufactured and assembled within the production network.
Production start of battery systems for EQS and EQE in Untertürkheim/Hedelfingen (Germany) is imminent. Compact SUV battery systems will be made in Kamenz (Germany), Jawor (Poland) and Beijing (China) plants. Over in the US, the Tuscaloosa battery plant will produce batteries for SUV variants of EQS and EQE beginning 2022.
Plug-in hybrids still important
Under “Electric First”, Mercedes-Benz is pursuing the consistent electrification of all model variants and vehicle types.
The decisive factor over the next few years is the gradual increase in the purely electric share of the vehicle portfolio. So-called xEVs, plug-in hybrids and fully electric vehicles, should account for more than half of sales by 2030.
Electrically powered vehicles from Mercedes-Benz are enjoying increasing popularity. The company delivered a total of 45,000 electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids (xEVs) worldwide in the third quarter of 2020.
Plug-in hybrid drive is important as a key technology and intermediate step towards a purely electric product portfolio. More than 20 plug-in hybrid model variants are already an integral part of the Mercedes-Benz product portfolio.
The portfolio will be expanded to include more than 25 model variants by 2025. Their production therefore also plays an important role in the global production network. Plug-in hybrid vehicles are already rolling off Mercedes-Benz Cars assembly lines in almost all car plants.
