Outlining its strategy for an electric future, the inventor
of the modern motor car said on Thursday it would, with partners, build eight
battery plants as it ramps up electric vehicle (EV) production.
From 2025, all new vehicle platforms will only make EVs, the
German luxury automaker added.
"We really want to go for it ... and be dominantly, if
not all electric, by the end of the decade," Chief Executive Ola Källenius
told Reuters, adding that spending on traditional combustion-engine technology
would be "close to zero" by 2025.
Some carmakers like Geely-owned Volvo Cars have committed to
going all electric by 2030, while General Motors Co. says it aspires to be
fully electric by 2035, as they all try to close the gap to industry leader
Tesla.
"We need to move the debate away from when you build
the last combustion engine because it's not relevant," Källenius said.
"The question is how quickly can you scale up to being close to 100
percent electric and that's what we're focusing on."
At Mercedes-Benz, the shift will see an 80 percent drop in
investments into combustion engines and plug-in hybrid technologies between
2019 and 2026, which the group said would have a direct impact on jobs.
EVs have fewer components and so require fewer workers than
combustion engine vehicles.
Daimler said that as of 2025, it expects electric and hybrid
electric cars will make up 50 percent of sales – with all-electric cars
expected to account for most of that – earlier than its previous forecast that
this would happen by 2030.
The company said it would build out 200 gigawatt hours (GWh)
of battery cell capacity. Four of its new battery plants will be in Europe and
one in the United States.
Rival Volkswagen AG plans to build half a dozen battery cell
plants in Europe.
Daimler said that as part of its electrification strategy it
would build a battery recycling plant in Kuppenheim, Germany, which would start
operations in 2023. -Reuters
0 comments:
Post a Comment