At the 2016 Paris Motor Show in September, Mercedes-Benz announced its all-electric division called EQ. Now the company has confirmed that the first production model of the new EQ product brand will be produced in the North German city of Bremen by the end of this decade.
“Emission-free automobiles are the future. I am pleased that for the series production of our first electric EQ model, we can count on one of our most important partners in the global production network: our colleagues from Bremen. The Bremen plant delivers a maximum of flexibility and high speed as well as Mercedes quality from the beginning, also for our electric models,” says Dr. Dieter Zetsche, CEO of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars.
The production model will be based on the EQ concept car which was unveiled at the 2016 Paris Motor Show. The EQ is an electric vehicle in the look of a sporty SUV Coupé. It has a range of up to 500 kilometers and the typical Mercedes strengths such as safety, comfort, functionality and connectivity.
Mercedes-Benz Cars aims to have over 10 all-electric vehicles in its portfolio by 2025. The new electric vehicles can be built within the existing global production network with sites on 4 continents.
At the moment, the Bremen plant produces 10 different models. Next to vehicles with conventional combustion engines, plug-in hybrids of the C-Class and the GLC are also rolling off the production line. In addition, the GLC F-CELL – the worldwide first fuel-cell vehicle with plug-in technology – will be produced in Bremen. With the confirmation for the new Electro-SUV of the EQ brand, cars “made in Bremen“ will cover the entire range of intelligent drive technologies in the future.
The battery for the new electric vehicle will be developed by the Daimler subsidiary, Accumotive and produced in Kamenz (Saxony). The production is currently being expanded with an investment of 500 million euros. With this, one of the largest and most modern battery factories in Europe will be built.
In the future, Accumotive will produce lithium-ion batteries for all electrified vehicles of Mercedes-Benz and smart – including plug-in hybrids as well as fully electric vehicles. On top of that, the site will produce batteries for stationary Mercedes-Benz energy storage units as well as 48-volt-systems. The company plans an overall investment of more than one billion euros in a global battery production compound.
