Mercedes parent company spends $11 billion to 'eliminate' diesel vehicles

Daimler, the parent company of the luxury car brand Mercedes-Benz, has just announced an investment of 11 billion USD in developing electric vehicles, one of the efforts to gradually eliminate diesel engines in the future.

10 billion euros, equivalent to 11 billion USD, is the huge amount of money that Daimler has just revealed that it will spend to fight against Tesla's expansion in the electric vehicle field. Thomas Weber, head of research and product development of Daimler, said that it will launch 10 electric cars from now until 2025. 3 of these will be under the Smart brand while the rest will carry the 3-pointed star logo.

Daimler invests $11 billion to develop electric vehicles.

Weber also revealed that the upcoming Mercedes-branded electric cars will be able to operate continuously for 708 km per charge thanks to recent advances in battery technology. Mercedes-Benz will also apply a sales model similar to Tesla, meaning customers can choose to add performance as well as operating range.

The first electric vehicle in the lineup is expected to be a crossover inspired by the EQ concept unveiled earlier this year, followed by a sedan that will compete directly with the Tesla Model S. Most of the new electric vehicles will share a common chassis platform to save on research and production costs.

Daimler's first electric car will be a crossover.

Although Mercedes-Benz has said it will not abandon diesel engines completely, many people are skeptical that the multi-billion dollar plan is being considered by Mercedes-Benz to eliminate products using this engine. The reason why European car manufacturers are gradually abandoning diesel engines, such as Volkswagen, is mainly due to increasingly strict emissions regulations in the US that diesel engines have difficulty meeting.

According to TNO