Mercedes-Benz plans switch to full electrification by end of decade

BERLIN - German carmaker Mercedes-Benz planned to fully switch to electric drive by the end of the decade if market conditions allowed, the company announced in a press release on Thursday.

The shift to fully electric vehicles is "picking up speed," said Ola Kaellenius, CEO of Daimler and Mercedes-Benz. "The tipping point is getting closer and we will be ready as markets switch to electric-only by the end of this decade," he added.

By the end of 2025, all newly launched vehicles should be fully electric, according to Mercedes-Benz. Therefore, the carmaker would invest 40 billion euros ($47.17 billion) in research and development of battery electric vehicles between 2022 and 2030.

Together with partners, eight new gigafactories with a battery cell capacity of more than 200 gigawatt-hours should be built worldwide, in addition to the previously planned network of nine battery manufacturing plants, the company said.

China, the world's largest new energy vehicle market, is expected to "play a key role in accelerating the Mercedes-Benz electrification strategy," the carmaker noted.

The company's charging network which currently comprises of over 530,000 charging points worldwide should be expanded by 30,000 units until 2025, according to Mercedes-Benz which announced to cooperate with Shell.

As of 2022, eight electric vehicle models would be produced at seven locations on three continents, according to Mercedes-Benz, while all passenger car and battery assembly sites would switch to carbon neutral production.