Depending on which side you’re on, this can be sad news or a happy one. Either way, it’s a news that we all have to inevitably see from every major carmaker in the world. It’s sad when it comes from Daimler because you know, the Benz Patent-Motorwagen was the world’s first production automobile with an internal combustion engine.
According to reports, Daimler’s development chief Markus Schaefer has said that the conglomerate will stop the development of internal combustion engines (ICE) for the time being, in order to fully focus on electrification and development of electric powertrains and battery systems. The company’s resources will also be reallocated from ICE to EV development, and the R&D budget for the same is “high”.
While there’s no official statement yet from Daimler or Mercedes-Benz on the same, a Twitter conversation between Elon Musk and Mercedes-Benz tells us that the news might be true. However, the decision raises questions as to what will happen to Daimler’s truck brands such as Freightliner and Fuso. The answer is an easy guess, as Daimler already has eCitaro city bus and FUSO eCanter. All that needs to be done is to scale up and make an electric Freightliner Semi that’ll go against the Tesla Semi.
In fact, there’s already the Freightliner eM2 while the eCascadia is expected in 2021. Interestingly, Daimler and Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL) have signed an agreement to supply lithium-ion cell modules for electric trucks. CATL will supply for a wide range of Daimler Trucks & Buses’ including the eActros and the aforementioned Freightliner eM2 and eCascadia.
M256
Which means that the current generation of ICE such as the M256 which powers the S-Class, E-Class and the GLE crossover, and the M139 engine which we saw not too long ago, might be the last ones. That said, Daimler might resume development of internal combustion engines later in the future when there are enough pure electric products in the portfolio.
Also read: Mercedes-Benz Vision EQS imagines an all-electric S-Class of the future
Source: Auto motor und sport
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