TapTechNews May 14th News, according to the German media Handelsblatt, Mercedes-Benz has significantly reduced its investment in the development of electric vehicle platforms and decided to abandon its previously planned new MB.EA Large architecture.
The platform, originally scheduled for launch in 2028, was intended to be the next-generation base architecture for existing EQE, EQS sedans, and SUV models. The report cited four internal sources as saying that Mercedes-Benz made this decision due to poor sales of existing EQE and EQS models. As of TapTechNews press time, Mercedes-Benz has not commented on this.
The investment in stopping the project and its production facility transformation is expected to save Mercedes-Benz 4-6 billion euros.
Mercedes-Benz originally planned to develop two versions of the MB.EA platform, with the MB.EA Medium platform for the upcoming EQC sedan and SUV, and the MB.EA Large platform for larger luxury models.
With the cancellation of the latter project, Mercedes-Benz will continue to upgrade the EVA2 platform used by the existing EQE and EQS models, and will adopt an 800V charging architecture to replace the current 400V system. Other upgrades include new battery unit technology and more efficient electric motors to increase driving range.
It is reported that, in addition to retaining the medium MB.EA platform, Mercedes-Benz will also continue to advance the development of the MMA (compact electric vehicle), MB.AMG (performance car), and MB.VAN (commercial vehicle) platforms.
The MMA platform will support both electric and fuel power systems and will be used for the 3rd generation CLA, CLA Shooting Brake, 3rd generation GLA, and 2nd generation GLB models. The electric drive system architecture of this platform will be shared with the MB.EA Medium platform.
The MB.AMG platform will be launched in 2025 as a pure electric architecture and will be used for the successor models of the AMG GT four-door coupe and another closely related AMG SUV model.
The MB.VAN platform will be launched in 2026, first used to create a successor model for the current Mercedes EQV, and then applied in other commercial vehicle areas.
According to reports, the cancellation of the MB.EA Large platform project is part of Mercedes-Benz's future development strategy adjustment. Previously, the company set a target of achieving a 50% share of electric vehicle (including plug-in hybrid and pure electric vehicles) sales by 2025, but now has postponed this target to 2030, while abandoning the previous plan to sell only electric vehicles in markets where conditions allow.
It is expected that with the suspension of the MB.EA Large platform project, Mercedes-Benz will launch successor models for the 7th generation S-Class sedan, 4th generation GLE SUV, 3rd generation GLE Coupe, and 3rd generation GLS based on the upgraded MRA platform. These models will be gasoline-powered and will offer plug-in hybrid versions, which will be sold alongside the pure electric versions based on the upgraded EVA2 platform.