Photo: Guido Ten Brink/SB-Medien
Late last week, Daimler announced it would spend $1 billion to expand and modernize its plant in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where the company currently builds the Mercedes-Benz GLE, GLE Coupe, and GLS SUVs.
The investment is directly aimed at supporting Daimler's EV ambitions since it primarily focuses on battery production for its upcoming electric models. Mercedes-Benz, the most important brand in Daimler's portfolio, is fresh off the Frankfurt Motor Show where it launched the EQA concept, a compact-sized electric hatchback that previews the second all-electric model from Stuttgart after the EQC SUV.
The latter is expected to debut in 2019, so Mercedes-Benz is on a pretty tight schedule since two years isn't that much time by industry standards - especially for a product that's as novel to the brand as this.
Of course, Daimler did have other BEVs in its lineup like the Tesla-powered Mercedes-Benz B-Class MPV or the current smart electric drive, but they were all based on conventionally-powered models. The EQ range promises to offer vehicles that were built from the ground up with the electric powertrain in mind, which means they will take much better advantage of the features it enables.
However, Elon Musk is less than impressed. After working together with Daimler and crediting the German giant's $50 million investment in his company back in 2009 for Tesla's survival, Musk is still circumspect. Replying to a tweet posted by USA TODAY Money which announced the $1 billion investment, the Tesla CEO said they were off by one zero.
To be fair to Musk, the phrasing chosen by the publication was a bit confrontational: "Mercedes makes $1B bet it can take down Tesla," the tweet read, even though Daimler never once did make any reference to Tesla in its press release. "That's not a lot of money for a giant like Daimler/Mercedes. Wish they'd do more. Off by a zero," was Musk's comeback.
Daimler undoubtedly sits on enough cash not to consider $1 billion a big investment, but the Germans do seem determined to enter the EV market in force. Apart from the two concepts shown so far and the imminent production models, Mercedes-Benz is preparing eight more by 2022, which means the rate at which they come out is going to pick up massively after the first one rolls out in 2019.
The company is also developing the needed infrastructure by building its own version of a Gigafactory back home in Germany and also being active in the Chinese EV market. But Daimler isn't a small company run by one man - every significant change takes a lot of time. The investments Musk is asking for are coming, but EVs first need to prove themselves profitable. Until that happens and as long as the company still gets most of its money off gas-powered cars, we can't expect the board to green light huge EV expenditures.
The latter is expected to debut in 2019, so Mercedes-Benz is on a pretty tight schedule since two years isn't that much time by industry standards - especially for a product that's as novel to the brand as this.
Of course, Daimler did have other BEVs in its lineup like the Tesla-powered Mercedes-Benz B-Class MPV or the current smart electric drive, but they were all based on conventionally-powered models. The EQ range promises to offer vehicles that were built from the ground up with the electric powertrain in mind, which means they will take much better advantage of the features it enables.
However, Elon Musk is less than impressed. After working together with Daimler and crediting the German giant's $50 million investment in his company back in 2009 for Tesla's survival, Musk is still circumspect. Replying to a tweet posted by USA TODAY Money which announced the $1 billion investment, the Tesla CEO said they were off by one zero.
To be fair to Musk, the phrasing chosen by the publication was a bit confrontational: "Mercedes makes $1B bet it can take down Tesla," the tweet read, even though Daimler never once did make any reference to Tesla in its press release. "That's not a lot of money for a giant like Daimler/Mercedes. Wish they'd do more. Off by a zero," was Musk's comeback.
Daimler undoubtedly sits on enough cash not to consider $1 billion a big investment, but the Germans do seem determined to enter the EV market in force. Apart from the two concepts shown so far and the imminent production models, Mercedes-Benz is preparing eight more by 2022, which means the rate at which they come out is going to pick up massively after the first one rolls out in 2019.
The company is also developing the needed infrastructure by building its own version of a Gigafactory back home in Germany and also being active in the Chinese EV market. But Daimler isn't a small company run by one man - every significant change takes a lot of time. The investments Musk is asking for are coming, but EVs first need to prove themselves profitable. Until that happens and as long as the company still gets most of its money off gas-powered cars, we can't expect the board to green light huge EV expenditures.
That's not a lot of money for a giant like Daimler/Mercedes. Wish they'd do more. Off by a zero.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 24, 2017
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