The future of the automobile industry is getting closer and closer. Recently in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles have been seen around significant cities. PSA Peugeot Citroen, Daimler AG, and Volkswagen Group all have plans to enter the market with new hydrogen-powered cars by 2020. These automakers are also looking into the benefits of electric vehicles. This month, Nissan announced plans to be electric-only by 2012. Mercedes-Benz and BMW have both announced plans for fully electric cars by 2013. The question remains, though: when will all this take place so that companies can start advertising their new lines of electric cars?
The traditional response to this question is that Mercedes-Benz will never be all-electric. If you drive a Mercedes, it's because you like driving a Mercedes; you don't want to drive an electric car. But if you're Mercedes, why not? Why would you tell your customers that you intend to go out of business? But there is another, more exciting way to think about the question. Suppose we could have a Mercedes-Benz that was 100 percent electric from the first second it rolled off the production line until the last second it stopped running. Would we buy one?
The obvious answer is, "Of course, we would; we would buy one every minute of every day." And that answer would be right if there were no other choice. But suppose there were other choices. Suppose, for example. There were two different kinds of cars: one that ran on electricity and one that ran on gasoline. The first car would last forever, but the second could be replaced after three years—like the current BMW 3 Series, which runs on gasoline but can be replaced after three years with a gasoline-electric hybrid called the i3.
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In the end, this is the crux of the issue. There is no doubt many would genuinely prefer an electric-only Mercedes option. While some concept offerings hint towards possible future directions, none of them will be on sale any time soon. Furthermore, even when an all-electric model does launch, it seems that won't mean the end of traditional Mercedes-Benz powertrains - to paraphrase what they said in their interview: 'the EQ nameplate is unlikely to become a clean sheet vehicle from scratch.' That's not to say that the EQ brand won't be relevant in the (increasingly electric) future - perhaps giving way to performance models based on its architecture in much the same way AMG does now. Still, their plans for electrification will remain within existing lines. Visit our dealership for more information on when Mercedes-Benz Plan To Be All-Electric.
