Photo: Mercedes-Benz
By September 2019, Mercedes-Benz and its offshoot AMG went crazy and between the two of them launched a little over 20 car models. In this avalanche of vehicles, only one, the EQV, is powered by electricity, and the rest come equipped with the good-old internal combustion engine.
This trend is likely to change in the future as Mercedes-Benz, going with the industry waves, is planning to launch dozens of electric vehicles in the coming years. So happy seems to be the carmaker with this outlook, and with the current range of engines, that apparently no new ICE-powertrains are for the moment in the works.
According to German publication Auto Motor und Sport, citing Markus Schaefer, Daimler's head of development, the recently refreshed line of ICE engines is enough to cover the needs for the following years.
That means the carmaker will not pump anymore money in brand new engine families, but they might improve upon some of the parts of existing range should the need arise.
The fact that Mercedes has put a halt on ICE engines development does not some as a surprise, as they are not the first to do so. The reasons behind this are simple.
First, ICE engines are incredibly complex and they require a lot of money and engineering to get built. Secondly, there are few improvements left to be made on present designs, including when it comes to meeting the toughening emissions regulations.
On the whole, ICE engines will still be around for decades to come, if not more, but chances are they will eventually die out. And their demise, it seems, could start now.
For the moment, with the billions pumped into them, electric powertrain seems to be riding the waves. By freezing the development of new ICE engines, Mercedes, as do the others, does nothing but take a step back and look at the bigger picture, waiting to see how the tides turn.
A move Elon Musk seems to like.
According to German publication Auto Motor und Sport, citing Markus Schaefer, Daimler's head of development, the recently refreshed line of ICE engines is enough to cover the needs for the following years.
That means the carmaker will not pump anymore money in brand new engine families, but they might improve upon some of the parts of existing range should the need arise.
The fact that Mercedes has put a halt on ICE engines development does not some as a surprise, as they are not the first to do so. The reasons behind this are simple.
First, ICE engines are incredibly complex and they require a lot of money and engineering to get built. Secondly, there are few improvements left to be made on present designs, including when it comes to meeting the toughening emissions regulations.
On the whole, ICE engines will still be around for decades to come, if not more, but chances are they will eventually die out. And their demise, it seems, could start now.
For the moment, with the billions pumped into them, electric powertrain seems to be riding the waves. By freezing the development of new ICE engines, Mercedes, as do the others, does nothing but take a step back and look at the bigger picture, waiting to see how the tides turn.
A move Elon Musk seems to like.
Electric is the future! Congratulations Daimler!! https://t.co/Zg2VSj4tjO
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 19, 2019
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