EQC SUV: Mercedes to build 100 electric cars a day

Mercedes is planning to produce 100 fully electric EQC SUVs every day this year, according to a manager. The company opened the order books for the EQC just a few days ago.

In the coming year, EQC’s production at the Bremen plant will double to 200 units per day, thus doubling to around 50,000 cars per year. For comparison: Audi wants to produce 300 e-tron quattro cars per day at its peak, which is up to 75,000 cars per year.

According to the report at Mercedes, the battery is a limiting factor in the initial phase. It is considered highly complex, and consists of six packages with 384 cell modules and comes from the company’s factory in Kamenz, Saxony. The delivery of the cells, which come from LG Chem, among others, is not a problem, it is said.

Mercedes started the production and sale of the EQC about a week ago. The electric car can be ordered starting at 71,281 euros. With a net base price of less than 60,000 euros, it qualifies for the environmental bonus in Germany, for example, regardless of the chosen setup. In addition to Bremen, the joint venture Beijing Benz Automotive (BBAC) will also start production of the EQC for the Chinese market this year.

Initially, a special edition of the electric motor will be available. The manufacturer says that the EQC 400 4MATIC Edition 1886 will “primarily” roll off the production line at the start of delivery in summer, but not exclusively. The series-version EQC will therefore also be handed over to “select customers” before the vehicles enter the dealer showrooms in October. The EQC is the first EQ representative of its own electric vehicle product family, which is to grow to more than ten models by 2022.

automobilwoche.de (Paywall, in German)