Mercedes Disappoints With Latest EV Ambition | 23 July 2021

Episode 1152,   Jul 23, 2021, 12:00 AM

Today’s big EV stories:
• Mercedes Accelerates Electric Shift With $47 Billion Push
• Mercedes-Benz to build eight battery factories
• Electric Mercedes-Benz G-Class launches in 2024
• China frictions steer electric automakers away from rare earth magnets
• New York City DOT to install 120 curbside Level 2 Chargers
• Shell Recharge is coming to Waitrose
• Tesla drops down the rankings to ‘below average quality’
• Tesla Raises Prices on Model 3 and Model Y
• Tesla puts new Model S deliveries on hold
• Mercedes Charging $575 Per Year For 10-Degree Rear Steering On EQS
• S. Korea accounts for one-third of global EV battery market in Jan.-May
• 100 days to save the next 100 years with climate, John Kerry says

Show #1152.

If you get any value from this podcast please consider supporting my work on Patreon. Plus all Patreon supporters get their own unique ad-free podcast feed.

Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are in the world, welcome to EV News Daily for Friday 23rd July. It’s  Martyn Lee here and I go through every EV story so you don't have to.

Thank you to MYEV.com for helping make this show, they’ve built the first marketplace specifically for Electric Vehicles. It’s a totally free marketplace that simplifies the buying and selling process, and help you learn about EVs along the way too.

MERCEDES PLANS TO GO ALL-ELECTRIC BY THE END OF THE DECADE

- Daimler said Thursday that its Mercedes-Benz brand would “be ready to go all electric at the end of the decade, where market conditions allow.”

- from 2025 all of Mercedes-Benz’ “newly launched vehicle architectures will be electric-only.”

- Daimler explained how it planned to launch three pure-electric architectures that year: 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.

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

- “In total, investments into battery electric vehicles between 2022 and 2030 will amount to over 40 billion euros.”


MERCEDES ACCELERATES ELECTRIC SHIFT WITH $47 BILLION PUSH

- Mercedes is betting the luxury segment will shift faster toward battery cars than the mass market because of customers’ greater purchasing power.

- The company didn’t give a concrete date for when it will phase out combustion engines, saying the pace of the shift toward EVs will vary widely across regions. It pledged to be ready to go all-electric by the end of the decade where conditions allow.

- It’s flanking the EQS with models including the compact EQA and plans to unveil the electric version of its bestselling E-Class sedan at the Munich auto show in September.

- Mercedes said it expects plug-in hybrid and fully electric cars to account for more than half of global car sales by 2025, five years sooner than the company forecast months ago. By 2039, it aims to turn its new-car fleet carbon-neutral.


MERCEDES-BENZ TO BUILD EIGHT BATTERY FACTORIES

- “We have a very clear plan to rapidly scale BEVs; we want to get on this journey to a BEV (battery electric) only world,” Daimler AG and Mercedes-Benz AG CEO Ola Källenius said during a media call after the announcement. “We want to be the people that make that happen, not just let it happen for us and go with the flow, but really taking initiative. And we believe also that the luxury segment, where we belong, has all the hallmarks of being a leading segment for this transition.”

- Thursday it acquired U.K.-based electric motor company YASA, and has determined it will need battery capacity of more than 200 gigawatt hours. To hit meet those needs, Mercedes plans to set up eight battery factories with existing partners and one new partner to produce cells.

- The new plants, which includes one in the United States, four in Europe and three in China, is on top of the company’s already planned network of nine factories that will be dedicated to building battery systems.

- The company said it will team up with new European partners to develop and efficiently produce future cells and modules.

- Mercedes said it has partnered with Sila Nano, the Silicon Valley battery materials startup that raised $590 million earlier this year, to help it improve its next generation of batteries. Specifically, Sila Nano is helping Mercedes increase energy density by using silicon-carbon composite in the anode, which should boost range and allow for shorter charging times. Mercedes is also looking into solid-state battery technology.


ELECTRIC MERCEDES-BENZ G-CLASS LAUNCHES IN 2024

- Mercedes-Benz will launch a battery-electric version of the iconic G-Class in 2024, the automaker said on Thursday. Confirmation of the electric G-Class, which could go by the name EQG, was made during a presentation outlining Mercedes' plans to transition to a full-electric brand by 2030.

- The big and blocky G-Class will require a substantial kilowatt-hour rating and Mercedes may want to wait until battery technology improves. It isn't clear whether Mercedes will electrify the G-Class platform, or install the G-Class body on one of its electric platforms.

- if you want an electric G-Class today, there's a company in Austria by the name of Kreisel that offers an electric conversion,


CHINA FRICTIONS STEER ELECTRIC AUTOMAKERS AWAY FROM RARE EARTH MAGNETS

- As tensions mount between China and the United States, automakers in the West are trying to reduce their reliance on a key driver of the electric vehicle revolution - permanent magnets, sometimes smaller than a pack of cards, that power electric engines.Most are made of rare earth metals from China.

- Now manufacturers amounting to nearly half global sales say they are limiting their use, a Reuters analysis found.

- Because some can generate a constant magnetic force, the magnets they make are known as permanent magnets.

- BMW says it has redesigned its EV technology to make up for a lack of rare earths; Renault SA (RENA.PA) has slotted its rare-earth-free Zoe model into a growing niche of small urban cars that do not need extended driving ranges.

- Over the past two decades, Western countries largely withdrew from producing rare earth metals, which involves complex processing and often noxious byproducts. Today, China's dominance runs through the entire production chain.


NEW YORK CITY DOT TO INSTALL 120 CURBSIDE LEVEL 2 CHARGERS

- New York City plans to install its first curbside charging stations by this October. According to The Wall Street Journal, the city’s Department of Transportation will install 100 Level 2 charging ports for public use and 20 for the city’s vehicle fleet. Public charging will reportedly cost $2.50 per hour during the day and $1 per hour overnight.

- The first of the city’s new charging stations has been installed in the Norwood section of the Bronx. The DOT has picked network operator FLO to manage the network under contract with local utility Consolidated Edison.


SHELL RECHARGE IS COMING TO WAITROSE

- Shell Recharge has announced plans to build hundreds of electric vehicle charging points at Waitrose stores over the next few years. The supermarket chain specifically plans to host up to 800 charging stations at up to 100 Waitrose stores across the UK by 2025.

- the deal will see Shell Recharge equipping roughly a third of Waitrose locations with EV charging. Each location is expected to have six 22 kW and two 50 kW chargers, making a total 6,400 chargers.

- This will represent the first move from Shell Recharge into destination charging, with customers able to charge their vehicle while shopping.


TESLA DROPS DOWN THE RANKINGS TO ‘BELOW AVERAGE QUALITY’

- Tesla has dropped to ‘below average quality’ while three leading Chinese electric vehicle start-ups are now making ‘top-quality cars’ in their respective segments, according to a new survey, ratcheting up pressure on the global leader in the world’s largest automotive market.

- Tesla’s Model 3 ranked third in the midsize battery electric vehicle (BEV) segment, falling behind BYD Co’s Han BEV and Xpeng’s P7, according to the JD Power 2021 China New Energy Vehicle Initial Quality Study released on Thursday

- NIO’s ES6 now ranks highest in China’s luxury BEV segment, the Xpeng’s G3 is the best compact BEV while Li Auto’s Li One secured the top spot in the plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV)


TESLA RAISES PRICES ON MODEL 3 AND MODEL Y


TESLA PUTS NEW MODEL S DELIVERIES ON HOLD, AND IT'S UNCLEAR WHY

MERCEDES CHARGING $575 PER YEAR IN GERMANY FOR 10-DEGREE REAR STEERING ON EQS


S. KOREA ACCOUNTS FOR ONE-THIRD OF GLOBAL EV BATTERY MARKET IN JAN.-MAY


100 DAYS TO SAVE THE NEXT 100 YEARS WITH CLIMATE, JOHN KERRY SAYS


QUESTION OF THE WEEK WITH EMOBILITYNORWAY.COM

With chargers still being rolled out, should they automatically stop charging (and should the car release the cable) at 80%?

Email me your thoughts and I’ll read them out on Sunday – hello@evnewsdaily.com

It would mean a lot if you could take 2mins to leave a quick review on whichever platform you download the podcast.

And  if you have an Amazon Echo, download our Alexa Skill, search for EV News Daily and add it as a flash briefing.

Come and say hi on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter just search EV News Daily, have a wonderful day, I’ll catch you tomorrow and remember…there’s no such thing as a self-charging hybrid.

PREMIUM PARTNERS
PHIL ROBERTS / ELECTRIC FUTURE
BRAD CROSBY
PORSCHE OF THE VILLAGE CINCINNATI
VOLVO CARS CINCINNATI EAST
DEREK REILLY FROM THE EV REVIEW IRELAND YOUTUBE CHANNEL
RICHARD AT RSEV.CO.UK – FOR BUYING AND SELLING EVS IN THE UK
Subscribe
Next
Saturday Special Interview with Robert Llewellyn from Fully Charged | 24 July 2021
Top episodes