‘Electric First’ campus for Mercedes-Benz

Development of electric and electrified drive systems is planned at the Mercedes-Benz Drive Systems Campus at Stuttgart-Untertürkheim in Germany.

The multi-million-euro project has Mercedes-Benz gearing up for an “Electric First” future as part of its “Ambition 2039” strategy towards carbon neutrality.

Untertürkheim will become a technology competence centre with a campus focusing clearly on electric drive and battery technology, including the production of lithium-ion cells, Mercedes-Benz says.

The site will focus on research, development and production ramp-ups of drive systems, further expanding its e-mobility.

A new factory for the small-series production of future battery cells, and a dedicated battery safety lab, will complement Mercedes-Benz’s existing research and development activities in battery technology.

Conventional engine, transmission and component production will gradually be phased out.

“Taking a leading role in electric vehicles means further boosting our own research and development and achieving maximum progress with global tech partners,” Daimler AG and Mercedes-Benz AG management board member Markus Schäfer says.

“I am totally convinced that in development and production, optimal access to new technologies and global expertise as well as redirecting the use of capital to carbon neutral investments will be more crucial than ever in the future,” says Schäfer who is responsible for Daimler Group Research and is also Mercedes-Benz Cars chief operating officer.

“This requires maximum flexibility and the consistent scrutiny of existing structures. The transformational phase toward CO2-neutrality also means far-reaching changes to our drive system division.

“Targeting our Untertürkheim site on ‘Electric First’ with a dedicated campus for electric drive technologies means an important cornerstone for our Mercedes-EQ product initiative,” he adds.

“A clear focus of our activities lies on research and process engineering of battery and cell technology, taking into account the entire value chain.”

Existing competence centres will be restructured or systematically expanded under the project.

Mercedes-Benz AG management board member for production and supply chain Jörg Burzer says the Untertürkheim site has always been an integral part of the Mercedes-Benz powertrain production network.

“By implementing the new vision at the Untertürkheim site, we want to set the course for a sustainable transformation of Mercedes-Benz with a clear focus on electrification,” he says.

“With the Mercedes-Benz Drive Systems Campus we make sure that the drive systems of tomorrow can be designed to a very significant extent at the site. Moreover, producing high-tech battery systems and electric drive systems, drive components ‘made in Untertürkheim’ will continue to define Mercedes-Benz vehicles in the future.”

Battery research and development activities now at the Nabern part of the plant will be located on the campus and further investments are planned in expansion of the current cell technology centre to cover the entire value chain of battery technology.

A new factory for the small-series production of lithium-ion battery cells is planned, starting operations in 2023.

The battery factory in Brühl nearby will produce batteries for plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) from 2022.

Starting this year, battery systems for the Mercedes-EQ model EQS – the all-electric member of the S-Class family – will roll off the assembly line at the Hedelfingen part of the plant.

The EQS will be manufactured at Factory 56 in Sindelfingen about 20km away, starting in the first half of 2021. The battery system for the EQE will also be produced in Hedelfingen.

The manufacturing and assembly of electric drive systems parts for future vehicle models of the Mercedes-EQ brand will start at the end of 2024.

Mercedes-Benz says previously planned production volumes of electric drive systems will double.