More Models and Soon: Daimler Promises to Amp-up Its Electric Vehicle Program
After a Wednesday announcement stating it had failed to cut fleet emissions for the first time since 2007, Daimler has promised to expand its electric vehicle program and shorten the timeline. However, the automaker isn’t willing to shoulder all the blame for not being green enough. Consumer trends have shifted strongly toward larger, less efficient crossovers and SUVs in recent years. Daimler knows this better than anyone with global sales of the Mercedes-Benz GLA, GLC, and GLE gradually replacing its more-stagnant sedan deliveries.
Still, Europe has set very specific emissions requirements and the German company has fallen behind. It’s time to make amends by publicly promising new electrified models and a corporate goal closer to the state-sponsored pollution target.
Mercedes’ mean emissions remained at 123 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer last year — the same level as in 2015. It’s the first time in almost a decade that Daimler hasn’t been able to cut average pollution levels despite the introduction of more fuel-efficient engine options in almost every product line.
As a result, Reuters is reporting Daimler has publicly promised it will bring more than 10 new electric cars to the road before 2022. Its previous goal was to gradually roll out EVs through its new EQ brand, with almost that many hitting the world market by 2025 — but that was before it needed to apologize.
It won’t, however, be spending any additional capital to achieve the ambitious timeline. Wednesday’s announcement saw Daimler sticking to its original investment plan of 10 billion euros.
[Image: Mercedes-Benz]
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The Germans have painted themselves into a corner with electric vehicles. The German Greens have pushed for more renewable energy before it could handle the load, and a poor plan to drop coal, oil, and nuclear electric generation has given Germany some of the highest electricity rates in Europe. Germany is dependent on Russia for natural gas for heating, so it can't switch from coal to gas fired electricity generation like American power companies have. The best alternative is nuclear, but the German Greens have caused them to be shut down too, with the last one going out of service in 2022. What does that do for electric vehicles? It'll be even worse than American sales, especially with American oil production keeping global oil prices - and gasoline prices - at low levels for the foreseeable future. This looks like the absolute worst time to be depending on electric cars, but the alternative is smaller Benzes with smaller engines, just like the 1940s and '50s.