Mercedes will reduce its investment in the development of electric platforms, taking the decision not to continue development plans for the new MB.EA Large architecture, according to reports in the German press.
In the autumn of 2022, Mercedes announced with great excitement that besides the MMA platform, developed with priority for electric propulsion but which can also receive conventional engines, it will have in the future only three 100% electric platforms: MB.EA for models in the mid-class and above (MB.EA Medium for the C-Class and GLC EV and MB.EA Large for the EQE and EQS), AMG.EA for AMG performance models and VAN.EA for vans and commercial vehicles.
But now the German newspaper Handelsblatt comes with shocking news: Mercedes has stopped the development of the MB.EA Large platform due to poor sales of the EQE and EQS. The German financial newspaper says the information comes from four separate internal sources.
Stopping investment in the new platform will save between 4 billion and 6 billion euros, but will affect the technological level of the future EQE and EQS generations. And uncertainty hangs over the future of the two models as German Auto Motor und Sport magazine wrote in an article on Mercedes’ plans that the EQE may not have a successor.
From the information available at the moment, it seems that Mercedes will upgrade the current EVA II platform, built on the 400V architecture, which it will adapt for 800V voltage. The modified platform will be used in the future EQS.
Instead, the Mercedes C-Class and GLC EV that Mercedes is currently testing will be based on the MB.EA Medium platform, which will use the same electric motors from the MMA platform. MB.EA medium is a 100% electric platform, so it cannot be used for the future C-Class with conventional engines, which will still be based on the MRA II.
The MMA platform will be used for the new generation of compact models, which have been reduced from seven to four: GLA, GLB, CLA, and CLA Shooting Brake. The first will debut the electric CLA. Plans remain unchanged for the AMG.EA platform, which will premiere in 2025 on the successor to the AMG GT 4-door coupe and will later be used for an AMG-derived SUV. Also in 2026, the VAN.EA platform will premiere on the successor to the Mercedes EQV and, later, on future commercial vehicles.
Mercedes has revised its sales estimates for electric models, postponing its target of selling 50% electric drive models from 2025 to 2030. Mercedes has also changed its target to sell exclusively electric models from 2030, only in countries “where market conditions allow”. Under these conditions, it is clear that the MRA II platform used for conventional rear-wheel drive models from the C-Class to the S-Class and the GLC to the GLS will be further developed and that it is very likely that the current generation E-Class will not be the last one with conventional drive.
List of Mercedes platform
MMA Platform
CLA, CLA Shooting Brake, GLA, GLB with electric, PHEV and conventional powertrain
MB.EA Medium
C-Class EV, GLC EV
MRA II
C-Class, E-Class, S-Class, GLC, GLE, GLS, GLC Coupe, GLE Coupe
AMG.EA
AMG GT 4-door coupe, AMG SUV EV
VAN.EA
EQV, e-Vito, e-Sprinter
MSA
AMG SL, AMG GT
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