Mercedes has secured its future in the are of electromobility and invests around 500 million euros in the construction of a new battery factory.
Daimler consistently expands its activities in the area of electromobility and invests around 500 million Euros in the construction of a new battery factory. This will lead to a significant expansion of the production capacities for lithium-ion batteries of Deutsche ACCUMOTIVE located in the Saxon city of Kamenz. The new factory will produce batteries for electric and hybrid vehicles of the brands
Mercedes-Benz and smart. As a first step, the full Daimler subsidiary has purchased about 20 hectares of land adjacent to the existing battery factory.
“To get closer to fully electric driving, we keep investing big in the key component of emission-free vehicles: powerful batteries. We are now devoting another 500 million Euros to build a second battery factory in Germany. This underlines our commitment to the consistent expansion of electromobility”, said Dr. Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars.
By the end of 2014, the Daimler subsidiary had already announced its plans for a significant increase in its production capacities and an investment of around 100 million Euros in the expansion of the existing battery factory. “With the purchase of the new land, our production area at the site will be tripled. The previous 20,000 square meters will be stocked up by an additional 40,000 square meters of production space. We will expand the production capacity consistently in the coming years”, said Harald Kröger, Head of Development Electrics/Electronics and e-Drive Mercedes-Benz Cars.
The groundbreaking ceremony for the new factory is planned for fall 2016. The topping-out ceremony will then follow in spring 2017. The new production plant is to start operations in summer 2017.
In the next two years, Mercedes will enlarge its current Plug-In Hybrid range to 10 models. Three Plug-In Hybrid models already hit the road (Mercedes S 500 e, GLE 500 e and C 350 e) and other two will follow in the near future: GLC 350 e and E 350 e.
The new Smart Electric Drive prepared to be launch until the end of this year will join Mercedes B-Class Electric Drive in the electric range.
According to some rumours, Mercedes working in secret to a dedicated electric range which will include two sedans and two SUVs. The first fully electric Mercedes SUV and saloon is not expected before 2018 when the new generation of batteries will be ready for the series production.
The company Deutsche ACCUMOTIVE, founded in 2009, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Daimler AG. The company develops and sells highly complex drive batteries for hybrid and electric vehicles based on lithium-ion technology. The company headquarters of Deutsche ACCUMOTIVE, located in Nabern in the Stuttgart area, also houses the research and development function. The production takes place in the Saxon city of Kamenz. The Daimler subsidiary employs more than 380 employees — 260 in Kamenz and about 120 in Nabern. Since the start of series production in 2012, more than 70,000 lithium-ion batteries have been delivered.
