Electrification is inevitable in cars and Mercedes-Benz are eager to take the lead as quickly as possible. To do this, they’ve devoted a lot of resources towards battery production. Last week they unveiled that they’d have at least 8 all-electric models by 2022. At the same time, they also fleshed out their plans for which factories would be key to this electrification plan.
Naturally, the Kamenz factory in German would continue to be a key facility for production of electrified powerplants as it has been since 2012. However, we also learnt, among other things, that Thailand’s Thonburi Automotive Assembly Plant would become a site for all-electric battery production. They plant already makes battery systems for plug-in hybrid vehicles from Mercedes-Benz, but this will be expanded to EQ products that are propelled completely on electricity.
Not bad at all, Thailand. Now if only our government could put together a solid plan to bring back such confidence from foreign investors.
Here’s the excerpt from the press release that shows this part of the plan.
PRESS RELEASE
Global battery production network: a key success factor in the Mercedes-Benz electric offensive
The batteries for the Mercedes-EQ electric vehicles are supplied by a global battery production network with plants on three continents. Local battery production is a key success factor for the Mercedes-Benz electric offensive.
Two plants in Kamenz (Germany), have been producing battery systems for hybrids, plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles since 2012. The second battery factory at the site began operations in 2018 and has been producing the EQC’s battery systems since 2019. It was designed from the start as a CO₂ neutral plant and combines, among other things, solar energy, geothermal energy and a combined heat and power plant. The battery systems for the EQA have also recently rolled off the production line at the site. Since the start of production at Accumotive, more than a million batteries based on lithium-ion technology for electric, plug-in hybrid vehicles and 48-volt systems have been produced at the Kamenz site.
Mercedes-Benz and BAIC have jointly set up local battery production at the existing location in the Yizhuang Industrial Park in Beijing (China). This supplies the nearby vehicle plant, which has also added all-electric Mercedes-EQ models to its portfolio with the EQC. Production of battery systems for the EQC started there in 2019. With the start of production of the EQA, EQB and EQE, the plant will manufacture battery systems for a total of four Mercedes-Benz EQ models beginning in 2021.
This year the battery plant in Jawor (Poland) started producing plug-in hybrid batteries for the C, E and S‑Classes. In the coming year the location will expand its portfolio to include battery systems for the compact Mercedes-EQ models, the EQA and the EQB. Much like the battery plant in Kamenz, the plant was designed from the outset for CO₂ neutral production.
In the future at the Untertürkheim (Germany) site two plants will produce battery systems. Final preparations for the production of the battery systems for the EQS, which will roll off the production line in nearby Sindelfingen in the first half of 2021, are currently underway at the Hedelfingen plant. The battery system for the EQE will also be produced in Hedelfingen. Another battery plant is currently being built in the Brühl facility, which will manufacture battery systems for Mercedes-Benz plug-in hybrids starting 2022. The work on the building has already been completed. The battery plant in Brühl will be fitted with the corresponding equipment in the coming months.
Production of the EQS and EQE SUV models will start in 2022 at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Tuscaloosa (USA). A battery plant is currently being built in the immediate vicinity and will supply highly efficient battery systems for both models. Work on the building has already been completed. The ultra-modern systems will be installed in the coming months.
In addition, the Mercedes-Benz production strategy currently provides for another battery plant at the Sindelfingen site.
Together with local partner Thonburi Automotive Assembly Plant (TAAP), Mercedes-Benz Cars set up a battery production facility in Bangkok (Thailand) and began operations in 2019. Battery systems for the current C, E and S-Class plug-in hybrids are manufactured at the site. Preparations are also being made there to manufacture drive batteries for all-electric Mercedes-EQ brand vehicles.
