The pressure to meet the 2050 net-zero carbon emission goal is pushing vehicle manufacturers to set short-term goals to shift to electric vehicles.
Germany’s Daimler said Thursday that its Mercedes-Benz brand would “be ready to go all electric at the end of the decade, where market conditions allow.” CNBC reported.
Mercedes-Benz is just one among many major automakers embracing the EVs, and setting a decade-long target to make a complete shift. But it does spell doom for Africa’s auto markets as most countries in the continent have shown no political will to get ready for the future of electric automobiles.
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According to Daimler, from 2025 all of Mercedes-Benz’ “newly launched vehicle architectures will be electric-only.”
Breaking things down, CNBC’s report details how Mercedes plans to achieve its 2030 goal. Daimler explained how it planned to launch three pure-electric architectures that year: MB.EA, which will relate to medium and large passenger cars; AMG.EA, which will focus on performance vehicles; and VAN.EA, for light commercial vehicles and vans. Models based on these platforms will be electric only.
From 2025 onward, consumers will also have the option of purchasing an “all-electric alternative for every model the company makes.”
“The EV shift is picking up speed — especially in the luxury segment, where Mercedes-Benz belongs,” Ola Källenius, who heads up both Daimler and Mercedes-Benz, said in a statement.
“The tipping point is getting closer and we will be ready as markets switch to electric-only by the end of this decade,” he added. “This step marks a profound reallocation of capital.”
In light of its plans, Daimler stated that Mercedes-Benz would ramp-up its research and development. “In total, investments into battery electric vehicles between 2022 and 2030 will amount to over 40 billion euros.”
Alongside global partners, Mercedes will also look to establish eight gigafactories to manufacture the cells it needs for its vehicles. This would supplement plans to develop nine plants focused on the development of battery systems.
Daimler added that Mercedes-Benz intended to, “team up with new European partners to develop and efficiently produce future cells and modules, a step which ensures that Europe remains at the heart of the auto industry even in an electric era.”
Low and zero-emission transportation is seen as being a crucial tool for major economies attempting to reduce their environmental footprint and cut air pollution.
The U.K. government, for example, plans to stop the sale of new diesel and gasoline cars and vans by 2030 and require, from 2035, all new cars and vans to have zero tailpipe emissions.
Elsewhere, the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, is targeting a 100% reduction in CO2 emissions from cars and vans by 2035.
Against this backdrop, a host of companies involved in the auto industry have announced plans to expand their offering of low and zero-emission vehicles.
Earlier this month, for example, the Volkswagen Group said half of its sales were expected to be battery-electric vehicles by 2030. By 2040, the company said almost 100% of its new vehicles in major markets should be zero-emission.
However, the African Union (AU) is dragging its feet as the rest of the continents’ authorities put pressure on manufacturers to take steps in reducing carbon, and to switch totally to environmentally friendly engines in the shortest time possible.
One of the reasons for Africa’s lax attitude toward achieving the 2050 net-zero emission goal could be traced to one factor; Africa is the least industrialized continent in the world, contributing less than 4% of the global carbon emission. But therein lies the challenge that African leaders should be working hard to fix in line with the global push for environmentally friendly vehicles.
Only a few African countries have indigenous vehicle manufacturing firms. With vehicle production far less than enough to serve the continent’s automobile needs, and many of its countries depending on carmakers shifting to EVs, the need for a sustainable zero emission infrastructure begs for attention.
Stable electricity and charging stations are the basic infrastructure needed to boost electric auto markets, and Africa still lags behind in these areas. With Mercedes-Benz, a darling brand in Africa, joining other major carmakers in the decade-zero-emission target, the continent’s auto markets’ fate hangs on what its governments do now in preparation for the zero emission future.