Daimler Mulls Investment on Green Powertrain Techs

Reports say that Daimler will invest more than €7bn over the next two years on green powertrain technologies, comprising a plug-in hybrid electric-hydrogen fuel cell vehicle. The premier German company will invest €14.5bn in research and development with more than half being spent on green automotive technologies. It reveals passenger cars will get approximately €5.4bn of this spending.

The vehicle fleet, which is a result of this investment, ranges from the smart city runabout and Mercedes-Benz passenger cars to coaches, buses, and trucks of the Fuso brand.

Daimler intends to electrify all Mercedes-Benz passenger car models in the next few years. The company says one of its top priorities is reducing CO2 emissions across all vehicle categories.

According to Daimler board management member Thomas Weber, they are investing hugely in electromobility, and they are convinced that the market is now ready. He says that with the new vehicles they offer, they want to impress the benefits of the new mobility on car owners who have not yet chosen an electric vehicle.

Next year, Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz brand will launch the GLC F-Cell, a plug-in hybrid hydrogen fuel cell vehicle that will have a longer operating range than the existing hybrids on the market. This vehicle comes with a huge Li-ion battery, rated at around 9 kWh, which serves as an extra energy source for the electric motor. What’s more, it can be charged externally by means of plug-in technology.

Daimler claims the combination of fuel cells and battery systems will enable for a combined range of about 500 km.

The company is also creating a multi-model electric vehicle architecture for battery-powered vehicles, with the first model anticipated to be rolled out onto the market before the end of 2020.

Mercedes-Benz already has 13 models on the market that are plug-in hybrids. Included in the plans for next year is a refurbished Model S 500 e that will enable for all-electric operating ranges of over 50 km.