We meet with the man who will bring a new generation of electric vehicles to Mercedes-Benz showrooms in the coming years. This is Mr. Schenk. He joined Daimler as an electrical engineer in 1980 and today he is the Chief Engineer for the Mercedes-Benz Cars division’s vehicle electrification program. With 450 engineers under his guidance, he is ready to deliver the most diverse and useable electric car range to the global market. His innovative ‘hut’ electric vehicle scalable architecture will allow a variety of vehicle types to be developed very cost effectively.
QUESTION: Could old EV batteries could be used for storing energy. Has this been proven?
ANSWER: Well…we have engineers working on many applications and recycling of materials has always been a priority and we will more information on this when the time is right.
QUESTION: Is Mercedes-Benz working on solar roof for electric cars?
ANSWER: No, we are not working on this application. We have checked the efficiency of a solar roof and the impact and the problems and we have identified that the square metre produces 80-188 watt only……which is not sufficient. This is only enough for air ventilation. Weight is also an issue and also the wiring does not make sense in the long run.
QUESTION: In your opinion, which is the best lithium-ion battery manufacturer? Panasonic perhaps?
ANSWER: Mercedes uses a few cells but for battery manufacturers, Mercedes produce and develops its own battery packs because the quality required and the engineering for our EV and hybrids cars need the batteries and engines working together in harmony.
QUESTION: Will Mercedes electric cars be priced to reach the middle-class buyers in South East Asia….the group that will really benefit from this lower cost mobility.
ANSWER: As a company we do not do this…we first want to understand our customer needs. We need to understand the market conditions to develop new products. There must also be infrastructure first to provide electric cars to be charged…if not there is no need to bring the product to the market. Also, by the middle of the next decade the cost of the electric cars will be the same or might even be lower than petrol engine cars….the decline of battery costs and the cost to produce will make it affordable.
QUESTION: Why the EQ a SUV and not the EQ sedan? Is the sedan slowly becoming unpopular?
ANSWER: Yes, a whole range will be coming and the range will expand to include cars. We will have vehicles to compete side by side with BMW i Cars.
