DAIMLER TO INVEST $11 BILLION IN ELECTRIC VEHICLES
November 27th, 2016Via: Reuters:
Luxury carmaker Daimler is planning to invest up to 10 billion euros ($11 billion) in developing electric vehicles, its research and development head told a German daily.
German firms are investing heavily in electric cars, once shunned for their high cost and limited operating range but now benefiting from recent advances in battery technology and a backlash against diesel fumes.
Technological advances to increase the reach of an electric car by up to 50 percent are now spurring major investments by Volkswagen, Daimler and suppliers such as Bosch and Continental.
“By 2025 we want to develop 10 electric cars based on the same architecture,” Thomas Weber told Stuttgarter Zeitung’s Saturday edition.
“For this push we want to invest up to 10 billion euros,” he said, adding three of the models will be Smart branded cars and that thanks to larger batteries they will be able to increase their cruising range up to 700 kilometers.
In September, a person familiar with Daimler’s plans said that the car maker plans to roll out at least six electric car models as part of its push to compete with Tesla and Volkswagen’s Audi.
