Mercedes-Benz doing ten electric models three years earlier

A rollout of ten electric vehicle models by 2022 instead of 2025 has been announced by Mercedes-Benz.

In a 10 billion-Euro (nearly AU$14 billion) project, the world’s largest luxury car maker intends to release the EVs three years earlier than a target announced at the Paris auto show in September, Bloomberg reports.

The expedited time frame reflects the urgency facing manufacturers as they brace for a shift away from traditional automotive technologies. Combustion engines will continue to be refined for a “transitional period,” Mercedes parent Daimler AG

says.

“Further fundamental changes will be required for Daimler to remain successful,” as the industry adjusts to cars running on electric motors and capable of driving themselves, Daimler chairman Manfred Bischoff told the company’s annual shareholder meeting in Berlin.

Daimler’s focussing on future technologies at the expense of short-term profits. The company plans to spend more than 1 billion Euros (AU$1.4b) on its global battery production facilities, about half of which will go to a subsidiary in Kamenz, Germany.

To bridge the gap toward an era of fully electric vehicles, Daimler is continuing to develop plug-in hybrids.

Mercedes already has eight such models for sale, with upcoming versions set to include a new hybrid S-Class sedan with an extended battery range of as much as 50km.