Elon Challenges Mercedes To Invest More in EV's

[futurem3owner]

Here's the tweet from Elon saying $1 billion investment by Mercedes-Benz to produce EV's and build a battery factory is not enough.

Elon Musk on Twitter

Is that hubris popping up again or is he right in challenging them? I actually think he should be more receptive and see this investment by MB or any other automaker as a positive sign to usher in EV's and finally phase out ICE cars... no matter how small he thinks the contribution might be. At least it's a step in the right direction.

 

[GoTslaGo]

Here's the tweet from Elon saying $1 billion investment by Mercedes-Benz to produce EV's and build a battery factory is not enough.

Elon Musk on Twitter

Is that hubris popping up again or is he right in challenging them? I actually think he should be more receptive and see this investment by MB or any other automaker as a positive sign to usher in EV's and finally phase out ICE cars... no matter how small he thinks the contribution might be. At least it's a step in the right direction.

Tesla's GF is 5 billion dollars to build. That is just for the batteries. It's just math.

I think his comment is directed to MB to up their game. Recall that Elon had a previous good relationship with MB and they were an early investor in Tesla, until they sold their 50 million dollar investment for 750+ million. There is probably a personal level of communication here that we are seeing just a tip of.

 

[ecarfan]

For the past decade MB has in my opinion been a massive disappointment when it comes to EV, given their early association with Tesla which MB ended.

I applaud Elon for pushing them to do more. $1B is just an ante in the EV game. They will have to spend much more to catch up with Tesla given how far behind they are right now.

 

[brucet999]

For the past decade MB has in my opinion been a massive disappointment when it comes to EV, given their early association with Tesla which MB ended.

I applaud Elon for pushing them to do more. $1B is just an ante in the EV game. They will have to spend much more to catch up with Tesla given how far behind they are right now.

How can you say such a thing? According to the article, " Mercedes brand executive Markus Schäfer stated, “We are … sending a clear message to our customers across the U.S. and around the world: Mercedes-Benz will continue to be on the cutting-edge of electric vehicle development and production.”

So, apparently Tesla has been somewhere on the sidelines these past 9 years while MB has led electric vehicle development and production.

 

[avoigt]

Beeing German I am very much disappointed - rather ashamed about the missing strategy and lack of vision in the respect of EV. Cannot remember how often I heard the Diesel song from this guys. Now all of a sudden they start to wake up but it will take years to bring something decent on the roads. Hope they will make it though because competition is a good thing for all parties.

 

[futurem3owner]

Bear in mind that priority for MB is still to deliver as many ICE cars as possible while transition to EV's occurs. It's frustrating but also understandable why they're not going all in and investing more. I think any ICE automaker will have a hard time completely abandoning the business that has kept them afloat all this time and dedicate majority or even half their resources into EV development instead. This is evident by the slow and cautious move into EV business by the major luxury competitors despite the Model S outselling them. That being said, Elon did get Daimler AG to invest $10 billion into EV production so, they are admitting that more needs to be done to transition to EV but whether they follow up on their word is another story.

 

[ecarfan]

Yes, that statement " Mercedes-Benz will continue to be on the cutting-edge of electric vehicle development and production" not only reeks of hypocrisy but is an outright lie. How many BEV models does MB offer, what is their range and battery capacity, what is their DC charging rate, what is their 0-60 time, and how many BEVs did they build last year compared to Tesla?

How can you say such a thing? According to the article, " Mercedes brand executive Markus Schäfer stated, “We are … sending a clear message to our customers across the U.S. and around the world: Mercedes-Benz will continue to be on the cutting-edge of electric vehicle development and production.”

So, apparently Tesla has been somewhere on the sidelines these past 9 years while MB has led electric vehicle development and production.

 

[SomeJoe7777]

Yes, that statement " Mercedes-Benz will continue to be on the cutting-edge of electric vehicle development and production" not only reeks of hypocrisy but is an outright lie. How many BEV models does MB offer, what is their range and battery capacity, what is their DC charging rate, what is their 0-60 time, and how many BEVs did they build last year compared to Tesla?

"Cutting edge of electric vehicle development and production"

The statement itself reveals a startling lack of a cohesive vision. Building the electric vehicle is the easy part.

1. What is their long-distance charging solution? If I can't take a Mercedes BEV from Houston to Dallas and back, it's nothing more than another Leaf, except it has the Mercedes logo on it.

2. What is the source for enough batteries to sell the vehicles in volume? As was said above, $1B doesn't even start to build a battery factory.

3. How does Mercedes convince their antiquated dealer-based sales network to sell vehicles that directly undermine their major revenue stream (repair and parts)?

With no statement, vision, or acknowledgement of these items, no one can take MB seriously as an EV competitor.