Mercedes Going Up Against Tesla in the Electric Luxury Market

By Adam Pockross - September 23, 2015

mercedes-concept-iaa-16

I live in Seattle. It’s rainy, caffeinated, and techie up here. Grunge rules the radio. And the Tesla Model S rules the streets. Of the many luxury rides I see rolling very slowly around this no-traffic-flow town, the one I probably see more of than any other is the Model S. And you can bet I’m not the only one who has noticed a recent upshot in the electric car’s popularity.

Certainly Mercedes has taken note, as the company is developing an electric luxury car to try and quell the Tesla infestation. Mercedes’ product-development chief, Thomas Weber, recently confirmed as much while speaking in Frankfurt, when he said that Mercedes intends to start selling an electric vehicle with a 250-310 mile range, probably by 2018 — a “unique” and “emotional”car that might use some of the range-gaining tech from the newly debuted, shape-shifting IAA concept (shown above).

Sound like anything you’ve seen driving around the streets of your nearest tech town?

As Tesla sold over 30,000 Model S vehicles last year, it’s hard to argue with that logic. Especially since Audi and Porsche may have to delay their current electric plans, which we also got a glimpse of in Frankfurt. The Motley Fool speculates that the VW emissions fiasco may just cast “a cloud over its expensive future product plans.”

Before VW’s news hit the fan, in Frankfurt, Daimler CEO, Dr. Dieter, said that Mercedes would be open to an electric-battery manufacturing partnership with both Audi and BMW. That’s how serious the Tesla problem has gotten.