Insideview
Webinar with Mercedes Benz
Dr Sabine Lutz, responsible for Group Research, Sustainability & RD functions at Mercedes-Benz gave a presentation in a webinar on the topic “Sustainability, technology, and innovation: on the way to a carbon-neutral and digital future”. The webinar was arranged by the European Chamber of Commerce in Korea (ECCK) and opened to all members of the European Business Organisation Worldwide Network (EBOWWN), which includes the ECCT. Read the full Event Report here.
Speaking from the company’s powertrain factory in Stuttgart, Lutz said that electric power trains and innovative software are the key technologies in the future of the car. Mercedes Benz aims to reach carbon neutrality by 2039 and a major part of reaching this goal is to accelerate the transition to pure battery electric passenger vehicles (BEVs). However, she said that she believes that customer preference will shift even faster and that EVs will dominate the luxury market by 2030.
According to Lutz, the transition is already picking up speed and the tipping point is getting closer, especially in the luxury segment. Mercedes Benz plans to have BEV options for all of its passenger car segments by next year and, by 2025, there will be an all-electric option for every model. While this implies the most significant redeployment of capital in the company’s history, company insiders are convinced that it can be done profitably.
To enable the BEV transition, the company will build three electric only architectures, for large and medium-sized cars and light commercial vehicles (vans). Batteries will be highly standardised. More than 90% of all future vehicles will be based on a common battery platform.
