Daimler buying more than €20B of battery cells for electric drive vehicles by 2030
11 December 2018
Daimler will buy more than €20 billion (US$23 billion) of battery cells for electric drive vehicles by 2030, the company announced. The suppliers are already producing battery cells in Asia and Europe and are continuing to expand in Europe and additionally in the US. Daimler currently has battery cell supply deals with SK Innovation, LG Chem and China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL).
With extensive orders for battery cells until the year 2030, we set another important milestone for the electrification of our future electric vehicles of the EQ product and technology brand. In this way, together with our partners, we ensure the supply of our global battery production network today and in the future using the latest technologies.
—Wilko Stark, Member of the Divisional Board Mercedes-Benz Cars, Procurement and Supplier Quality
The company is also investing €1 billion in the global battery production network within the worldwide production network.
The company purchases the cells on the world market, ensuring the best possible technology; the company focuses on the core competence of battery assembly. The global battery production network of Mercedes-Benz Cars will in the future consist of eight factories on three continents.
The first factory in Kamenz is already in series production and the second factory there will start series production at the beginning of 2019. Two more factories will be built in Stuttgart-Untertürkheim, one at the company’s Sindelfingen site, and one each at the sites in Beijing (China), Bangkok (Thailand) and Tuscaloosa (USA).
The local production of batteries is an important success factor in Mercedes-Benz Cars’ electric offensive and is decisive for meeting the global demand for electric vehicles flexibly and efficiently.
Daimler said that competences for the technological evaluation of cells as well as research and development activities will be consistently expanded. These include the continuous optimization of the current generation of Li-ion systems, the further development of cells bought on the world market and research on the next generation of post-lithium-ion systems.
By 2022, the entire Mercedes portfolio is to be electrified, with various electrified alternatives available in every segment, from the smart to the SUVs. In total, there will be well more than 130 variants, from the 48-volt electrical system to EQ Boost and plug-in hybrids and more than ten all-electric vehicles powered by batteries or fuel cells. By 2025, sales of battery-electric vehicles are to increase to 15-25 percent of total unit sales – depending on individual customer preferences and the development of the public infrastructure.
Daimler has been gaining experience with electric trucks since 2010 and has had its first all-electric truck in series production on the market and in customers’ hands since last year: the Fuso eCanter light-duty truck. The all-electric eActros for heavy-duty distribution transport is currently in customer trials in Germany.
Series production in the bus segment began in autumn this year and the first Mercedes-Benz eCitaro was recently delivered to Hamburg’s public transport operator: Hamburger Hochbahn AG.
Mercedes-Benz Vans electrifies its entire commercial fleet. It starts with the all-electric mid-size van eVito, which has been delivered since November 2018. The eSprinter will follow in the second half of 2019.
Unless I made some mistake in my calculations 20 billion euros at say 100 euros per kwh works out to about 3.3 million 60 kwh vehicles. Or if the cost is halved, about 6 million vehicles, so I'm guessing the figure would be they've committed to buying 20 billion per year by 2030. I've noticed some sales figures of late that plug in EV sales are already reaching 5% in markets like China and some hospitable European countries so I'd expect MB will be spending a lot more than 20 billion in 2030 providing they are able to survive.
Posted by: Calgarygary | 11 December 2018 at 07:59 AM
Figure that most of those vehicles are going to be somewhere between 10 kWh PHEVs and 0.75 kWh stop-start hybrids and you'll probably be closer. 200 million kWh would give you 20 million PHEVs or 27 million micro-hybrids.
Posted by: Engineer-Poet | 12 December 2018 at 03:20 AM
If the figure is 20 million vehicles then I'd assume they are talking about a gross expenditure of 20 billion euros over the next 12 years. That may be as I didn't see anything in the article to clarify whether 20 billion was annual or total. That doesn't seem all that significant so its good news for the petroleum industry. Where I live there is hope and expectation that growth in demand for oil will continue for a couple more decades and that may be correct.
Posted by: Calgarygary | 12 December 2018 at 06:24 AM
Er, make that 270 million micro-hybrids.
Calgary AB, check. But that could change so fast it would make your head spin. Just think of what a move to PHEVs for LDVs and CNG/LNG for medium/heavy trucks would do to demand for liquid petroleum. Tesla alone is already planning enough battery-pack capacity to make practically every LDV sold in the USA a full-blown PHEV.
Posted by: Engineer-Poet | 12 December 2018 at 07:25 AM