Mercedes-Benz Plans To Go Fully Electric By End Of Decade

Mercedes-Benz has announced on Thursday that its latest step towards electrification will offer BEV versions of its model lineup "in all segments the company serves" by 2022 and that "all newly launched architectures will be electric-only" starting in 2025.

The company explained that it planned to launch three pure-electric architectures: MB.EA, which will relate to medium and large passenger cars; AMG.EA, which will focus on performance vehicles; and VAN.EA, for light commercial vehicles and vans. Models based on these platforms will be electric only.

The company plans to invest 40 billion euros ($47 billion) in battery-driven vehicles between 2022 and 2080. It says it also intends to work with partners on setting up eight factories producing battery cells — the individual components that are assembled into larger battery packs in different vehicles.

From 2025 onward, consumers will also have the option of purchasing an “all-electric alternative for every model the company makes.”

Mercedes plans to build and operate eight gigafactories in the coming years to help accommodate the 200 gigawatts of battery production capacity the company anticipates it will need for all these new BEVs it will be making.