FRANKFURT (Bloomberg) -- Mercedes-Benz’s first mainstream electric car has Tesla technology under the hood, though it’s not flaunting it.
Unlike BMW AG, which wrapped its competing emissions-free model in futuristic carbon fiber, Daimler AG’s Mercedes unit put an electric motor and battery inside its existing vanlike B-class hatchback. The only clues that it’s electric are a couple of small decals and the blue trim on the mirrors and front grille. Teaming up with Tesla Motors Inc. is supposed to help Mercedes transfer some of the hipster aura of the electric-vehicle pioneer to the B class while avoiding the pitfalls of spending billions on a technology few may want to buy.
Whether it will resonate with the consumers who do want to be part of the automotive avant garde is another question. “The B-class electric is a low-cost and low-risk solution for Daimler,” said Stefan Bratzel, director of the Center of Automotive Management at the University of Applied Sciences in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany. Because the electric B class shares an assembly line with the gasoline and diesel versions, Mercedes doesn’t need to sell a fixed amount of vehicles to cover its costs, Bratzel said.
“You can reasonably say that nobody today is making a battery-powered vehicle that’s economically viable in its own right,” Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche said at an Oct. 27 event on the Spanish island of Mallorca to present the electric B class to journalists.
“Manufacturers will not see a return within a reasonable time on the billions they’re investing now.”
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