In order to accelerate the development of electric vehicles, Daimler Group will invest 1 billion euros in battery production and technology research and development to provide a solid backing for its own electric vehicle brands EQ and Smart electric vehicles.
The Daimler Group currently produces electric vehicle battery packs through its subsidiary ACCUmotive. Earlier this year, in order to strengthen the battery business, Daimler announced an investment of 500 million euros in a new battery factory in Kamenz County. At the same time, Daimler Group also selected SK, a subsidiary of South Korea's chemical and energy giant SK Group, as the supplier of electric vehicle batteries for Mercedes.
In the next 10 years, Daimler expects that 25% of the manufactured cars will be electric vehicles (including hybrid vehicles). Last year, Daimler produced 3 million cars. According to a 25% calculation, if the average battery capacity of a plug-in hybrid vehicle is 30 kWh, Daimler needs to produce 22 gigawatt-hour battery capacity in the next 10 years, so battery pack production must be accelerated schedule.