The electric car is being a headache for Mercedes. In 2021, the German company announced that it would be a completely electric brand in 2030. However, they kept an ace up their sleeve “As long as the market allows it”, they made it clear at that time.
In February of this same year, Ola Källenius, CEO of the company, was already beginning to make it clear that perhaps the electric mobility pool was not as full as he thought. “Maybe there was too much optimism in the industry,” he pointed out to the German media. The time. With those words he left the door open to new investments in the development of combustion engines.
Between 2021 and 2024, the electric purchasing trend at Mercedes has been growing. In fact, according to data collected by Statesmanthe market share exceeded 10% last year. Some figures that, however, have stopped dead in 2024.
Except for a miracle, everything indicates that Mercedes will undergo a severe adjustment in the sales of its electric cars. At the end of the third quarter of the year (latest data provided by the company), Mercedes has sold 135,908 electric cars, compared to 174,471 in the same period of 2023. It is a drop of 22%. On the contrary, its plug-in hybrids have grown (14%), going from 115,429 units sold at the end of Q3 2023 to 131,464 registrations this year.
In this year of adjustment, the electric car that has lost the most customers has probably been the Mercedes EQS. Mercedes does not give data on specific models but we do know that while its top-of-the-range sports car division (Mercedes-AMG) has placed 2,100 more units than last year in Q3, luxury vehicles have suffered a severe drop, passing from 36,100 units sold in Q3 of 2023 to 26,000 units in the same period of this year 2024.
China, where The Mercedes EQS should be a reference carhas fallen in sales to the point of registering less than a dozen units since last summer. And that has reduced its Price by up to half. Along with the Mercedes EQE, it seems that Mercedes’ commitment to offering a highly technological and disruptive vehicle with the company’s classic classicism has scared away its wealthiest clients.
Faced with a response that is not what they expected, Mercedes seems willing to focus on the company’s classic models, discontinuing the Mercedes EQS ahead of time. But, above all, focusing its efforts in recent months on the electric Mercedes CLA, a car that promises to be a revolution for the brand, called to rival Tesla and that will opt for a curious technology that makes the Taycan a unique electric car.
The importance of efficiency
In this constant effort to demonstrate with the electric Mercedes CLA that the company can remain relevant, the Germans have focused on talking about efficiency. Since a concept that was very close to the production model first appeared in September 2023, they have repeatedly emphasized this.
In its messages, Mercedes has always chosen to prioritize low consumption over huge batteries. Their larger cars mount them but they ensure that their electric Mercedes CLA It has approved consumption of 12 kWh/100 km and 750 km of autonomy. That is, the battery should be around 65-70 kWh, a size that could seem small and that is key to reducing the price of the vehicle and ensuring that it does not skyrocket, as happened to the Mercedes EQE, to make it profitable.
To give us an idea, the Tesla Model 3 Long Range has a single electric motor and a 75 kWh battery with which it achieves 702 km of approved autonomy and 12.5 kWh/100 km of consumption. These are figures that Mercedes hopes to surpass, which would be key to placing its cars in Europe and, above all, in the United States where Tesla has gained a frightening market share.
With China in low hours, this market is key for Mercedes and the company needs to put a car on the market that rivals Elon Musk’s models in the number of kilometers it can travel. It is essential in a country of enormous distances and a charging network with too many holes.
To achieve this, Mercedes will opt for a solution that Porsche has already applied with its Taycan. The large electric car from Porsche has a two-speed gearbox with which it achieves a greater response from its electric motors when they have exceeded 95 km/h. But this solution also allows you to improve consumption and reduce wear on the electric motors, as explained in Diariomotor.
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It is the latter that interests Mercedes. Right now, the company sees how Porsche has managed to combine an electric machine with which to make curves and very high efficiency in the same sports car. With its renewal, the base model has gone from homologating a consumption of 19.6 kWh/100 km to 16.7 kWh, despite the fact that the battery is larger (and heavier), now being 89 kWh, down from 79, 2 kWh capacity above. The power has remained at 408 HP.
Aiming for a price higher than the Tesla Model 3, in Bloomberg They included the words of Stephen Reitman, Bernstein analyst, who assures that “Mercedes needs to make this car a volume car”like a gasoline. How they collect in Hybrids and Electricsthe adoption of a gearbox for the electric model is an increase in the complexity of the assembly and a challenge in reducing costs.
But if the result is worth it, Mercedes will be able to hit the table against its rivals, especially the Germans, and position its car as a direct rival to Tesla where it shines most.
Photo | Mercedes
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