Daimler took the chance to confirm the new smart fortwo and forfour electric drive versions for 2016 after announcing production capacities expansion for lithium-ion batteries.
Daimler has announced plans to invest around €100 million euros in their Deutsche ACCUmotive subsidiary in an attempt to increase the supply of lithium-ion batteries for its eco-friendly models.
Along with the current smart fortwo electric drive model and hybrid versions of the Mercedes C-Class, E-Class and S-Class, the plant will supply batteries for the new fortwo and forfour electric drive models which are expected to launch later in 2016.
“Deutsche ACCUmotive will be producing the lithium-ion batteries for the upcoming electric versions of the smart fortwo and forfour from 2016 as well as for future hybrid models of Mercedes-Benz,” explained Frank Blome, Managing Director of Deutsche ACCUmotive.
The Daimler subsidiary has delivered more than 50,000 lithium-ion batteries to date and Daimler officials suggested that new hybrid models will benefit from the plant’s technological capacity.
With the completion of the third construction phase Deutsche ACCUmotive will have nearly 20,000 m² of production and logistics space at its disposal – or four times the area since the start of production in 2011.
Deutsche ACCUmotive was founded in 2009 for the development and production of lithium-Ion battery systems for vehicles. The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Daimler AG.
