A new Mercedes compact SUV is the newest model in the company’s strategy to introduce new electric vehicles for international markets.
Reuters is reporting that the Mercedes EQA, with an estimated range of 265 miles, should be available starting February 4 as an “urban entry model” for the market sector.
“The EQA, as a compact-crossover EV, may be a harbinger of Mercedes’s electric future, but actually, it looks rather clean and conventional,” writes Jens Meiners for Car and Driver. “Stylistically, it is a GLA, but without any of the pseudo-sporty clutter, with a sweeping front end and horizontal light bar that is mirrored on its tail.”
Mercedes is also pursuing scale-ups for its domestic Chinese production under the mark Beijing Benz. This operation, which started in 2005 with the firm releasing the Mercedes E Class domestically for under 500 yuan, now has the company producing hundreds of thousands of vehicles each year in China, for Chinese customers.
In broadening its selection of electric vehicles, Mercedes is also anticipating the eventual phase-out of fossil fuel vehicles in countries around the world, including the U.S.
“In October 2020, US Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Rep Mike Levin (D-CA-49) introduced the federal Zero Emission Vehicles Act of 2020,” writes an author at Coltura, a site dedicated to ‘a gasoline-free America.’ “This bill would require that 50% of all new passenger vehicles sold in 2025 in the US are ZEVs. The requirement would ramp up 5% each year, to 100% of new vehicle sales by 2035.”
As we reported yesterday, Tesla and other stakeholders are holders are also hard at work on the internal electric vehicle innovations. Many analysts expect this sector to explode as companies start to see the writing on the wall, and pivot rapidly toward electric vehicle production. Keep this in mind if you are making any plays in auto technology, which is a common strategy for traders with a finger on the pulse of the markets as a whole.