LONDON (Reuters) – Mercedes-Benz maker Daimler said on Thursday it would invest more than 40 billion euros ($47 billion) between 2022 and 2030 to develop battery electric vehicles (EVs), and from 2025 all new vehicle platforms would only make electric cars.
The German luxury carmaker said with partners it would build eight new battery plants as it ramps up EV production and would be ready to be fully electric by 2030, though it stopped short of giving a hard deadline to stop selling fossil-fuel cars.
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. “We need to move the debate away from when you build the last combustion engine because it’s not relevant,” Chief Executive Ola Källenius told Reuters. “The question is how quickly can you scale up to being close to 100% electric and that’s what we’re focusing on.” Daimler said that as of 2025, the company expects electric and hybrid electric cars to make up 50% of sales, earlier than its previous forecast that this would happen by 2030. The carmaker will unveil three electric platforms – one for passenger cars, one for vans and one for high-performance vehicles – that will be launched in 2025. Daimler is also acquiring British firm YASA Limited to help it develop high-performance electric motors.
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(Reporting by Nick Carey; Editing by Mark Potter)
