They’ll have to walk back the walking back. Seems tiring.
bhauertso
I can’t imagine supporting a fair-weather EV manufacturer such as this.
west0ne
Is this linked to the softening of the ban on ICE by the EU; I’m sure I read that the proposed ban in 2035 may be softened so that ICE vehicles could continue if they run on e-fuels. This is no doubt going to be cheaper for manufacturers who have already invested heavily in ICE.
inline_five
Using water to make fuel to run in combustion engines. We’ve hit peak insanity.
And I’m not even a pro-EV pusher, just pro-what-makes-logical-sense.
acecombine
just use clean coal ffs!!
I really hope local regulations will make ICE owners life miserable, so even if they aren’t banned, no one will consider buying then new…
Littlelord188
Pussies
AbbreviationsMore752
The majority of Merc buyers care less about gas prices and prioritize their time more. They don’t need to hurry to pure EV line-ups.
Dreaming_Blackbirds
5 to 6 years from now, Merc and a bunch of other companies are going to be begging more advanced automakers or startups for help by throwing tens of billions of dollars at them to fix their massive problems. like VW and Rivian did already.
tvish
The reason their EVs don’t sell better is because their cars look like a used bar of soap. I understand the cars have to be super aerodynamic, but come on. Try harder.
sbdavi
This is nonsense article. The fact is, they have to phase out ICE vehicles. In every market outside of the US, there are mandates to reduce them. Mercedes is in Europe and this applies to them as well. They’re not abandoning EV’s.
DrSendy
It’s actually letting its chinese factory deliver the EVs. They know the differentiator is that batteries can get better – and that is a supply side problem. they can’t hope to compete in.
So, they might as well go back to the drawing board to figure out how to make a sub 2 litre engine that does zero to 60 in under 5 seconds…
If the current cla had an electric motor with 250 range and a 0 to 60 5 seconds I would buy it over all the competition.
Yet all they give eis crappy SUVs or that ugly sedan… So sad
rowschank
It’s interesting to see that Mercedes Benz and BMW are doing things exactly opposite to each other. BMW first made a mixed platform, concentrated not just on aerodynamics but also on powertrain efficiency, sold lots of vehicles, and made good profits and are now investing on a much less compromised new electric platform. They’ve also simultaneously somehow ended up with the most reliable performance petrol engine in the market so they don’t need to make course corrections to continue to sell those either with the current and more mature platform that will only get more profitable with time.
Mercedes Benz on the other hand made a bespoke EV platform for their first generation, compromised it in several ways, and put what feels like all their efficiency eggs in the aerodynamics basket, sold fewer vehicles, and then announced a mixed platform for the next generation which will inherently be more compromised, and are having to make course corrections. Their old electric platform cannot be used into the future without at least being modified quite heavily because it’s only 400V.
—–
At the end of the day neither company is promising to be full electric by 2030 or whatever, but the way BMW did it and stuck to their goals makes Mercedes Benz look a bit foolish right now. These companies sell worldwide and they should’ve known that not every country is going to be electric only the same time as the EU wants it to be – they can’t possibly sell only EVs in South Africa, India, or perhaps even the US, by 2035.
It remains to be seen how successful BMW’s next generation platform is – if it turns out to be a dud, then it might lead people to draw the wrong conclusions about Mercedes’ non-strategy, but for more personal reasons, I hope it turns out well!
15 Comments
Lovely
/s
They’ll have to walk back the walking back. Seems tiring.
I can’t imagine supporting a fair-weather EV manufacturer such as this.
Is this linked to the softening of the ban on ICE by the EU; I’m sure I read that the proposed ban in 2035 may be softened so that ICE vehicles could continue if they run on e-fuels. This is no doubt going to be cheaper for manufacturers who have already invested heavily in ICE.
Using water to make fuel to run in combustion engines. We’ve hit peak insanity.
And I’m not even a pro-EV pusher, just pro-what-makes-logical-sense.
just use clean coal ffs!!
I really hope local regulations will make ICE owners life miserable, so even if they aren’t banned, no one will consider buying then new…
Pussies
The majority of Merc buyers care less about gas prices and prioritize their time more. They don’t need to hurry to pure EV line-ups.
5 to 6 years from now, Merc and a bunch of other companies are going to be begging more advanced automakers or startups for help by throwing tens of billions of dollars at them to fix their massive problems. like VW and Rivian did already.
The reason their EVs don’t sell better is because their cars look like a used bar of soap. I understand the cars have to be super aerodynamic, but come on. Try harder.
This is nonsense article. The fact is, they have to phase out ICE vehicles. In every market outside of the US, there are mandates to reduce them. Mercedes is in Europe and this applies to them as well. They’re not abandoning EV’s.
It’s actually letting its chinese factory deliver the EVs. They know the differentiator is that batteries can get better – and that is a supply side problem. they can’t hope to compete in.
So, they might as well go back to the drawing board to figure out how to make a sub 2 litre engine that does zero to 60 in under 5 seconds…
Maybe just like [BMW](https://i.imgur.com/PpqUWqS.png), they should also start reducing their astronomical prices.
If the current cla had an electric motor with 250 range and a 0 to 60 5 seconds I would buy it over all the competition.
Yet all they give eis crappy SUVs or that ugly sedan…
So sad
It’s interesting to see that Mercedes Benz and BMW are doing things exactly opposite to each other. BMW first made a mixed platform, concentrated not just on aerodynamics but also on powertrain efficiency, sold lots of vehicles, and made good profits and are now investing on a much less compromised new electric platform. They’ve also simultaneously somehow ended up with the most reliable performance petrol engine in the market so they don’t need to make course corrections to continue to sell those either with the current and more mature platform that will only get more profitable with time.
Mercedes Benz on the other hand made a bespoke EV platform for their first generation, compromised it in several ways, and put what feels like all their efficiency eggs in the aerodynamics basket, sold fewer vehicles, and then announced a mixed platform for the next generation which will inherently be more compromised, and are having to make course corrections. Their old electric platform cannot be used into the future without at least being modified quite heavily because it’s only 400V.
—–
At the end of the day neither company is promising to be full electric by 2030 or whatever, but the way BMW did it and stuck to their goals makes Mercedes Benz look a bit foolish right now. These companies sell worldwide and they should’ve known that not every country is going to be electric only the same time as the EU wants it to be – they can’t possibly sell only EVs in South Africa, India, or perhaps even the US, by 2035.
It remains to be seen how successful BMW’s next generation platform is – if it turns out to be a dud, then it might lead people to draw the wrong conclusions about Mercedes’ non-strategy, but for more personal reasons, I hope it turns out well!