Mercedes

Mercedes-Benz is joining a wave of automakers offering significant discounts on its 2023 EV models as it looks to clear inventory. The 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQS is being offered at up to $20,000 off MSRP, but the deals won’t last long.

Mercedes is going back to its roots with the upgraded EQS. The new Mercedes EQS luxury sedan will feature an improved battery for more range and the option for a more classic grille design.

Mercedes-Benz is backtracking on its EV plans as the luxury automaker plans to continue building gas-powered cars “well into the 2030s.”

Mercedes invited us out to drive the new eSprinter, the electric version of Mercedes’ cargo van, and if there’s one thing I want you to understand about it is: it’s a van, but it’s electric.

If you want a real Mercedes G-Wagon to show everyone that you’ve got more money than time spent off-road, go for it. But if you have neither money nor time off-road, then I’ve got a quirky little alternative for you. Behold, the Chinese electric knockoff of a G-Wagon!

Mercedes-Benz has hired a contractor to install a 20-turbine wind farm at its test track in Papenburg, Germany.

During a recent family trip to Southern California, Mercedes lent us two of their flagship electric vehicles. We picked up an EQS SUV at the airport, drove it around Los Angeles and to Big Bear Mountain and back, stress testing that huge battery against elevation and high speeds. Then, to switch it up, I drove the slightly less family-friendly but more fun EQE to destinations around LA for the second half of the week. Yes, $130K cars are so much more decadent than the Hertz vehicles we’d planned for, but here are my big takeaways.

There’s exactly one Mercedes EQXX in existence, and we had the good fortune to be able to drive it around a test track in Southern Germany this week. This is a special car for a number of reasons, but in a nutshell, it is a 100kWh ultra high efficiency EV with a slippery .17 coefficient of drag and 600W of solar panels on top.

Mercedes brought us out to Stuttgart, Germany this week to check out the latest developments in their DRIVE PILOT Level 3 autonomous software and hardware. After testing other beta autonomy products, I found Mercedes’ latest software/hardware bundle to be quite…relaxing.

Mercedes-Benz’ latest EQ electric vehicles are making waves in the premium EV market, and its next generation of EVs – as shown by the ultra-efficient Mercedes-Benz VISION EQXX concept – will simply raise the competitive bar for range and performance even higher… and Mercedes thinks that the best way to achieve its goals is by going it alone.

Daimler, Mercedes-Benz’s parent company, is already converting gas-powered car production capacity to electric car production capacity in Europe, but now it looks like they are turning their attention to the US.

The German automaker confirmed today that it plans to invest $1 billion to build Mercedes-Benz’s ‘EQ’ electric cars and its batteries in the US.
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Mercedes-Benz’s company-owned retail network in the UK took to Twitter to ask its followers if they would consider buying an electric car.

The automaker, which recently discontinued its only all-electric vehicle, received an interesting reality check.
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Among legacy automakers, Daimler has been one the most active in converting gas-powered car production to electric car production lately.

Earlier this year, they announced that their major Mercedes-Benz Untertürkheim plant will adapt to produce electric motors and today, they are adding battery pack production to the factory.
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After unveiling Mercedes’ new all-electric ‘EQ’ sub-brand last year, Daimler showed great ambitions to become a leader in all-electric vehicles.

The first effort is expected to come to market next year in the form of a luxury SUV called ‘EQ C’ unveiled last year, but now we learn that they reportedly plan to follow the vehicle with a relatively affordable all-electric hatchback with long-range to be unveiled at the Frankfurt motor show in September.
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Since Tesla started producing home battery packs and selling them through SolarCity in 2014, several other automakers, including Nissan and BMW, started also leveraging their electric vehicle battery pack technology for residential energy storage.

Now Mercedes-Benz is the latest to join the industry and it seems to be doing it in a more serious way than Nissan or BMW with a new partnership with Vivint Solar, the second biggest residential solar installer in the US after Tesla’s SolarCity.
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We reported just last week that Daimler was among the most ambitious legacy automakers when it comes to the electrification of their vehicle lineup with plans for 10 new all-electric models and 15 to 25% of all their production being electric by 2025.

At Daimler’s Annual Shareholder‘s Meeting in Berlin today, the company announced an acceleration of those plans. They are now aiming to get those new electric vehicles in production by 2022 – 3 years sooner than previously announced.
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Daimler has been fleshing out its electric vehicle strategy over the last year and a big part of it came to life in Paris earlier this year with the unveiling of Mercedes’s new ‘EQ’ brand and the first vehicle under that electric brand: ‘Generation EQ’.

The German automaker admitted that it fell behind in the electric vehicle segment, but it hopes to come out on top by 2025 with 25% of its production being electric. Now an executive confirmed that the company is planning a $11 billion investment for the first series of vehicles to come out.
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You simply can’t manufacture electric vehicles in volume if you can’t secure a steady supply of battery cells. Some automakers are doing it by partnering with battery makers, like GM with LG, and others are directly investing in battery manufacturing capacity, like Tesla with the Gigafactory – though still in partnership with a battery maker, Panasonic.

Now Daimler plans to further its own investment in battery production by 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion USD) in order to support its electric vehicle ambitions with Mercedes’ new ‘EQ’ brand and the new Smart electric car lineup.
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In advance of Formula E’s 2017-2018 season start this Sunday in Hong Kong, news came today that Mercedes has signed an “option agreement” reserving their position as one of 12 teams for the 2018-2019 season, up from 10 teams this season.

Mercedes joins a growing list of manufacturers involved in Formula E – Renault, Citroen, Mahindra and NextEV are already team title sponsors, with Jaguar, Audi, and Faraday Future all joining this year, and McLaren recently beating out Porsche and current supplier Williams to supply batteries for the series in the future.

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You can’t blame to Germans for not having a long-term vision. In interviews at the 2016 Paris Motor Show after unveiling Mercedes’ new all-electric ‘EQ’ brand, Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche admitted that Tesla is currently the leader in electric vehicles, but he plans for his company to catch up to Tesla and become the new leader by 2025.
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Porsche is leading the development of an ultra fast-charging infrastructure for Volkswagen’s next generation of electric vehicles, which includes Porsche’s own Mission E, but also Audi’s quattro e-tron and VW’s latest vehicle unveiled at the Paris Motor Show last month.

Now the German automaker confirmed working with other automakers toward the development of the technology and said that it will even work with Tesla vehicles.
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