Electric vehicles from Mercedes in 2018

Mercedes-Benz plans to join the electric cars race, with Audi and BMW. A new platform called ‘EVA’, meaning electric vehicle architecture, is being developed specially for these electric cars. 

The EVA platform will have a few elements from the existing rear-wheel drive platform, such as the suspension and the body shell. While the first EV was originally intended to be huge crossover, now two mid-sized vehicles have been prioritized. The first EV, slated to be launched in 2018, will be a saloon that will be a size that sits between the Mercedes C-Class and the E-Class. This will be followed by an equally sized electric crossover slotted between the Mercedes GLC and the GLE. 

The second phase of the EVA roll-out will see Mercedes launch and S-Class sized saloon along with a crossover larger than the GLS. Zero emission models will use a battery pack that will spread almost throughout the floor of the vehicle and is planned to weigh around 400kg. These will power one or two electric motors depending on the vehicle. While RWD models will use a 300kW electric motor, the AWD versions will have an additional 90-150kW electric motor at the front to support the 300kW electric motor at the rear. Notable features will include adaptive e-suspension, e-brakes and e-torque vectoring. 

Mercedes’ Bremen plant in Germany will be used for production and the company plans to sell at least 20,000 units of each EV annually. It will be interesting to see whether these electric vehicles will make their way to India after the proposed global debut.