Wolfman

We often discuss what comes next at Mercedes so I thought it might be helpful to post the latest brand and product strategy presentation (October 2020). Enjoy!

places

Nice, thank you for the share.

stealth.pilot

It's amazing that UK is the third largest market for AMG cars.

MBNUT1

+1

MBNUT1

So they talk about the BEV / PHEV mix. Is it fair to say that PHEV's are a stopgap measure or a long term play?

Certainly if the range / charging issues are overcome lugging around an ICE is a waste and retaining an ICE for every increasing max power capability is just plain unintelligent.

places

I would think stopgap.

Also my questions is, states a 70% reduction in combustion engine "variants" by 2030. So does that mean 30% of available models with have combustion engines? Or is that total sales projected?

Kaloteck

It's really hard to tell, too many variables, but most probably just a stopgap.

MBNUT1

The way I read that is if Mercedes makes 10 different combustion engines now they will only make three in the future ie one version of a four, six or eight cylinder. They may expand a given engines application through the use of PHEV

Wolfman

Stopgap or long term could mean a lot of things. I would call this transitional tech that could easily last 15years, depending on markets.
Customer acceptance for EV's is becoming less relevant in Europe as there are regulations and hefty penalties on carbon emissions plus a strong competitive push on EV's. The manufacturers don't want to become the next Nokia/Blackberry after Apple introduced the iPhone.

The issue will be the charging infrastructure. Higher population density, less homes with private parking pushes public charging. Ripping open streets for charging stations that can charge where people park at night are pricey. I am thinking millions of chargers for Europe, not thousands, and that will take a lot of time and more important, a lot of money.
Meanwhile PHEV's will reduce the risk for emission penalties (MB is facing a Billion Euro fine next year for not meeting emissions limits).

But all of that can play out very different depending on the technology. If Solid State Batteries come to market quick and at competitive prices, PHEV's will not be attractive and charging infrastructure will look very different as people could charge their cars as fast as gasoline. At that point it could just be conversions of gas stations to charging stations...

tkelley.EClass

"Setting new standards with the S Class". Really cool that a brand like MB continues to reinforce that the S class is what they consider to be true excellence. Another reason to enjoy the W222 in the meantime.

MB-CES

Interesting plan, but it makes sense that they will focus more on EV. They are introducing small electric motors in each vehicle and then eventually people will be more comfortable with these "hybrid" vehicles before going fully EV.