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BAIC, Daimler Invest $735 Million in EV Capacity
Daimler AG and Chinese partner BAIC Motor Corp. have agreed to spend 5 billion yuan ($735 million) to add capacity to make Mercedes-Benz branded all-electric and plug-in hybrid cars and batteries to power them.
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Daimler AG and Chinese partner BAIC Motor Corp. have agreed to spend 5 billion yuan ($735 million) to add capacity to make Mercedes-Benz branded all-electric and plug-in hybrid cars and batteries to power them.
The plan will enable the companies to locally produce an unspecified volume of EVs by 2020 at their Beijing Benz Automotive Co. joint venture’s manufacturing complex in Beijing. Daimler is investing more than $100 million to erect a factory at the site to assemble lithium-ion batteries from domestically supplied cells.
Daimler announced previously that it will introduce 10 new electrified vehicles in China by 2022. The first model, a crossover based on the Mercedes Generation EQ concept vehicle (pictured), is expected in 2019.
Daimler says it is spending about €1 billion ($1.1 billion) worldwide in batterymaking capacity. The company has operated a small battery factory in Kamenz, Germany, since 2010 and is now constructing a second, €500 million plant nearby that will open with roughly four times the capacity a year from now.
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