Mercedes-Benz and BMW put aside their differences to work jointly on a China charging network.
Arch-rivals in the premium automotive space Mercedes-Benz and BMW will be working together on “premium charging services” in China. Their respective Chinese entities – BMW Brilliance Automotive Ltd. and Mercedes-Benz Group China Ltd. have agreed to establish a 50:50 joint venture in China to achieve the goal of a China-wide charging network for customers there.
The joint venture has a handful of objectives. These include creating at least 1,000 high-power charging stations with around 7,000 high-power charging piles by the end of 2026. They will adopt the latest charging technologies and will open their first stations as early as 2024 in the regions where New Energy Vehicles are most popular.
The intention is to open these premium charging stations to the broader public and not just BMW and Mercedes-Benz customers. That being said, BMW and Mercedes-Benz customers will have access to some exclusive features including plug & charge and online reservations.
To make the whole operation more sustainable, there will be efforts to procure electricity generated from renewable sources where conditions allow.
Mercedes-Benz and BMW Working Together?
This is not unprecedented. The two rivals (and sometimes even Audi) regularly find some common ground where the investment required is high and the reward is marginal. Sometimes the teamwork works and sometimes they decide halfway through that it makes more sense to sell off the joint venture. Other times they just decide that the cooperation is just not working out and end things mutually.
It’s a little risky for both brands to work together on such a project in China – one of their most important markets. Perhaps there are some unique difficulties that are preventing either of them from going it alone with this project. What’s clear is that they have to close the gap to Tesla’s huge lead in China where Musk’s company now operates 1600 charging points that are actually already open to BMW and Mercedes-Benz customers to use… as long as they have the Tesla app installed.
