Ambition 2039: Our path to CO₂-neutrality

With the Ambition 2039, Mercedes-Benz put a stake into the ground. Now it is time to accelerate with the full and rapid electrification of our products.

Mercedes-Benz is getting ready to go all electric by the end of the decade, where market conditions allow. Shifting from electric-first to electric-only, the world’s pre-eminent luxury car company is accelerating toward an emissions-free and software-driven future.

By 2022, Mercedes-Benz will have battery electric vehicles (BEV) in all segments the company serves. From 2025 onwards, all newly launched vehicle architectures will be electric-only and customers will be able to choose an all-electric alternative for every model the company makes. Mercedes-Benz intends to manage this accelerated transformation while sticking to its profitability targets.

“The EV shift is picking up speed - especially in the luxury segment, where Mercedes-Benz belongs. The tipping point is getting closer and we will be ready as markets switch to electric-only by the end of this decade,” said Ola Källenius, Chairman of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG. “This step marks a profound reallocation of capital. By managing this faster transformation while safeguarding our profitability targets, we will ensure the enduring success of Mercedes-Benz. Thanks to our highly qualified and motivated workforce, I am convinced that we will be successful in this exciting new era.”

To facilitate this shift, Mercedes-Benz is unveiling a comprehensive plan which includes significantly accelerating R&D. In total, investments into battery electric vehicles between 2022 and 2030 will amount to over €40 billion. Accelerating and advancing the EV portfolio plan will bring forward the tipping point for EV adoption.

As early as 2022, our own Mercedes-Benz car and van plants worldwide will be producing CO₂-neutral vehicles. This applies to more than 30 car and van plants. An important part is the battery production, which will also be CO₂-neutral worldwide as of 2022. The second battery plant in Kamenz, which was opened in 2018 and is the center of competence of the Mercedes-Benz global battery production network, was designed from the outset to be a CO₂-neutral plant and already meets this requirement today. The Kamenz site is responsible for the production of battery systems for Mercedes-Benz Cars hybrid, plug-in-hybrid and battery-electric vehicles.

At the Mercedes-Benz plant in Sindelfingen, we have put into operation one of the most modern automobile production facilities in the world: Factory56. Factory 56 represents the future of production at Mercedes-Benz and sets new standards for automotive manufacturing. Fully in line with Ambition 2039, the Factory 56 will become a zero carbon factory - completely CO₂-neutral and with significantly reduced energy consumption. This is made possible, among other things, by its innovative energy concept with a photovoltaic system, a DC power grid and energy storage systems based on reused vehicle batteries.

Mercedes-Benz is expanding its green power portfolio in cooperation with the energy supplier Enovos and the Norwegian energy producer Statkraft. This means that from 2022 onwards, the company will purchase electricity in Germany which comes exclusively from renewable sources. A green power supply contract ensures the purchase of electricity from renewable energy sources at all times. More information

Together for climate protection

» Key criterion for supplier selection: With Ambition 2039 Mercedes-Benz wants to offer a CO₂ neutral new car fleet in less than 20 years. The transformation to electric mobility in particular increases the energy demand in the supply chain.

Our suppliers are also part of our holistic approach to climate protection. We want to implement effective climate protection measures together with our partners in the supply chain. The starting point is the creation of transparency. To this end, we are working with organizations such as CDP in the car sector to assess the environmental impact of our supply chain.

We additionally focus on materials and components that are particularly CO2 intensive in manufacturing and processing. Focus components include battery cells, steel, and aluminium. Here, we have already reached some important milestones: We have made CO2 neutral cell production a key requirement for all of our battery cell partners. This reduces emissions in battery production by around 30%. Our flagship EQS is already the first vehicle to be equipped with them. The CO2 neutral production at the partners’ premises has also been verified and confirmed by the expert and testing organizations SGS and DEKRA.

Together with our suppliers, we are also working on a green, CO2 free steel supply chain. Already today, we source steel from Salzgitter AG and Big River Steel with a significantly reduced carbon footprint by the use of recycled steel scrap. In the future, we will source steel from virtually CO2-free production, thanks to the switch to new technologies. To this end, we were the first car manufacturer to take an equity stake in the start-up H2 Green Steel and we have entered into a partnership with the Swedish steel producer SSAB.

» Certified mining of cobalt and lithium: Mercedes-Benz AG is relying on sustainable supply chains for its electric vehicle fleet.

Sourcing battery cells with cobalt and lithium exclusively from certified mines in the future makes Mercedes-Benz AG a pioneer for the first cross-industry mining standard “Standard for Responsible Mining” of the “Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance”. Mercedes-Benz is also consequently reducing the use of critical materials: the proportion of cobalt in the cathodes of the EQS battery cells is already less than ten percent and has thus been significantly reduced compared with the previous generation of batteries. In the long term, we want to use post-lithium-ion technologies with new material compositions to eliminate the need for materials such as cobalt.

In the coming generations of battery cells, Mercedes-Benz is already reducing the cobalt content to less than ten percent and intends to dispense with materials such as cobalt entirely through post-lithium-ion technologies with new material compositions.

More information on handling risk raw materials.

More information about the Supplier Ambition Rating for sustainable supply chains.

More news and insights

Green Charging: Around 50 percent of the CO₂ footprint of a battery-electric vehicle are produced during the use phase with the current EU energy mix, owing to charging processes that emit CO₂. In order to make green charging possible for the customers of all purely battery-electric Mercedes-EQ models and all plug-in hybrid model variants via the green charging points integrated into the Mercedes me Charge service, Mercedes-Benz will start the market launch of Green Charging in Europe this year.

» Mercedes me Eco Coach: To give customers special support when switching over to the age of electric mobility, Mercedes-Benz has developed an intelligent, digital personal trainer: the Mercedes me Eco Coach. Customers who follow the recommendations and hints in the app not only get to know their car with alternative drive better - they also improve their driving style and can better protect the environment.