Mercedes electric cars: Plan for the path to the top

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The performance of Mercedes as a company is mediocre, at least by its standards: in the first half of 2025, fewer than one million passenger cars were delivered. The margin in the first three quarters, according to the Center Automotive Management (CAM), was 4.4 instead of 9.7 percent in the previous year. Contrary to the global trend, sales of electric cars decreased according to CAM from 135,900 (2024, corresponding to nine percent of total sales) to 118,355 (eight percent). For comparison, competitor BMW: there, sales increased from 294,054 (17 percent) to 323,447 (22 percent).

Modernist Design

What's going on at Mercedes and with electric cars, anyone could see and can still see: management has not acted consistently and has made strategic mistakes multiple times. One example is the design of the EQE and EQS as well as their associated SUVs: the design language deliberately differentiated itself from the E and S-Class. The goal was to win customers in Asia. The result is that the design was not well received there or in Europe. Mercedes also did not recognize early enough that from a certain vehicle segment, 800-volt instead of 400-volt systems are necessary to be competitive: anyone who wants to charge large traction batteries really quickly needs the higher voltage level.

Although BMW has often been criticized for the fact that the X1 with combustion engines and the electric iX1 are fundamentally the same. In fact, customers have decided that electric cars don't have to look different. The [null]iX1 is consistently among the ten best-selling electric cars in Germany, even though it is not particularly cheap with a base price of almost 50,000 euros and, at least with front-wheel drive, does not entirely meet BMW's own driving dynamics standards. This is apparently not hindering sales.

Recall for EQA and EQB

Constructive errors have also occurred at Mercedes: EQA and EQB are visually close to the variants with combustion engines. Unfortunately, Mercedes had to recall 33,705 vehicles worldwide (Germany: 3119 units) of the EQA 250+ and EQB 250+ for recall: with the traction battery, which was increased from 66.5 to 70.5 kWh compared to the base version, there can be a fire hazard. In the workshop, the charging power is reduced by software, among other things: the charging time from ten to 80 percent increases from the original 34 to 44 to 49 minutes.

CEO Ola Källenius, who is currently also President of the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association ACEA, called in July 2025 in a widely noted guest article in The Economist that there must be space in the European Union “for hybrids, range-extended vehicles, highly efficient combustion engines, and decarbonized fuels.” So for everything except electric cars. Mercedes had published the core theses of this text on its press page for a long time. Perhaps it is a sign that this announcement has since been deleted.

Traditional Design, Modern Technology

In substance, Mercedes has opted for the electric car—with a familiar rather than an experimental design language. In addition, there are extremely powerful battery systems with 800-volt system voltage, for which the AMG GT XX is exemplary: it covered the distance of a circumnavigation of the earth on the Nardo circuit in one week, charging at an average of 850 kW. The maximum was 1041 kW. An electric car that has many elements of the AMG GT XX will come in 2026.

At some point in the past two to five years, Mercedes internally changed course. The result is a strategic shift that is now becoming visible and affects the most important model series by 2027. Mercedes is currently beginning the delivery [null]of the CLA as an electric car. The new nomenclature is “with EQ technology.” The CLA has a range of up to 792 km and charges from ten to 80 percent in 22 minutes. The price: from 49,420 euros for the base version CLA 200 (541 km) and from 55,858 euros for the CLA 250+ with the highest range. The Shooting Brake will follow shortly.

The GLC was presented at the IAA in Munich. This SUV is one of Mercedes' most important model series. The GLC replaces the ill-fated EQC, discontinued in 2023, and competes directly with the [null]BMW  iX3 of the New Class. The price for the GLC 400: From 71,281 euros for 673 km range. Less expensive versions are to follow.

In December, Mercedes will present the successor to the EQB, which will bear the abbreviation GLB with EQ technology. Like the CLA and GLC, it is based on a platform with an 800-volt system voltage. The first GLBs are expected to hit the road in spring 2026. The SUV will grow to around 4.8 m in length and will also be available with hybrid drives. Friends of the EQA will have to wait a little longer, as it will be replaced by the next GLA later in 2026. As before, it is technically close to the EQB/GLB. The [null]EQA has the image of a retiree car, which doesn't have to be bad. After all, Mercedes has long had a customer base that is older on average and has higher purchasing power.

C- and E-Class as electric cars

Finally, Mercedes is also electrifying the C-Class sedan. The C-Class, like the GLC, is one of the brand's top sellers worldwide. Sales are expected to start in the second half of 2026—almost simultaneously with the electric BMW 3 Series, which will be called the i3. Hardly any model series stands for Mercedes as much as the E-Class. The conservative and affluent customer base never warmed to the EQE, presumably because the design was too modernist and because no station wagon (T-model) was available. This will change in 2027 with the new E-Class, which, with EQ technology, will be based on the MB.EA-M platform like the GLC and C-Class. The EQE will be discontinued and will not receive an extensive model update (jargon: Mopf) anymore.

A general revival is observed in the van segment, and Mercedes will also offer something: the VLE will be presented around Easter 2026. It is an alternative to, for example, the VW ID. Buzz. Whether the luxurious VLS will also be introduced for the European market is unclear. Here too: 800-volt voltage level will contribute to charging power of more than 300 kW at peak.

The most important model series will be renewed by 2027

Within two years, Mercedes will thus convert all mass-relevant model series to a combination of familiar design plus 800-volt battery systems. The good star on all roads—as the former advertising slogan went—will be competitive again, and internationally too. The crucial thing now is that buyers go along with it. In Germany, this could work because the brand remains very popular, as long as the design is not too extravagant. For electric cars, it is also important that the threshold for the reduced service car tax of 0.25 percent has been raised to 100,000 euros.

(mfz)