Mercedes-Benz has announced new measures aimed at cutting CO2 emissions. The company aims to at least halve CO2 emissions per passenger car over the lifecycle by the end of this decade compared to 2020 levels. Key factors in achieving this goal include: electrifying the vehicle fleet, charging with green energy, improving battery technology, an extensive use of recycled materials and renewable energy in production.
Mercedes-Benz says it plans to cover more than 70% of its energy needs through renewable energy by 2030 by rolling out solar and wind power at own sites as well as through further Power Purchase Agreements.
Additionally, the company aims to achieve up to 50% share of plug-in hybrid and BEVs by 2025 on the way toward going all-electric by 2030 wherever market conditions allow. Globally, the portfolio already includes six, and soon nine, all-electric models. To-date, Mercedes-Benz has unveiled a range of global offerings from the EQA, the EQB, the EQC, the EQS, the EQE 350+ as well as the EQV. Further models will follow for certain markets around the globe: the EQS SUV, the EQE SUV and the EQT. The company plans to assert its leadership in electric mobility among commercial vans, too, through the ongoing electrification of its entire model range.
In the lifecycle of an electric vehicle, using renewable energy for charging is a significant lever for helping to avoid CO2 emissions. Mercedes-Benz says it enables “green charging” at all of the around 300,000 public charging points in the Mercedes me Charge network throughout Europe and ensures that a sufficient amount of electricity from renewable sources is fed into the grid.
The battery is the biggest lever for reducing CO2. By transitioning to CO2-neutral cell production, it is possible to cut emissions for the production of the entire battery pack by 20%, the company says. Additional CO2 savings are expected to be achieved through further measures, like by improving the anode and cathode production process. Strategic partnerships have been formed to develop and industrialize highly advanced and competitive cell technologies. With more than 800 watt-hours per liter at cell level by mid-decade, high-silicon anodes offer great potential in respect of energy density. At the same time, Mercedes-Benz says it expects to be able to use LFP batteries in its series-production vehicles. These batteries have a completely cobalt-free cathode. Together with research partners the company is also working on solid-state batteries. To keep control of the battery lifecycle in-house, the company is starting a CO2-neutral recycling factory in Kuppenheim, Germany, to recycle end-of-life electric vehicle batteries using a new hydrometallurgical technique which increases the recycling rate to 96%, the company says.
Mercedes-Benz adds it is setting up a green steel supply chain to massively expand its use of low-CO2 and zero-CO2 steel. Working closely with steel suppliers, the company is consciously steering clear of carbon offsets, focusing instead on the avoidance and reduction of CO2 emissions. In 2021, the company became the first car maker to take an equity stake in Swedish start-up H2 Green Steel (H2GS), with the aim of introducing green steel in a number of production models by as early as 2025. Through the adoption of a circular economy approach, Mercedes-Benz is steadily increasing the proportion of secondary aluminum it uses.
Several sustainable materials are already in series production in some vehicle models, the company says. These include seat upholstery fabrics from 100% recycled PET bottles as well as floor coverings made with yarns from fishing nets recovered and fabric remnants from old carpets. The EQS and EQE will even feature cable ducting made with recycled landfill waste. Indeed, the components in the EQS, manufactured with efficient use of resources through recycled and renewable raw materials, already weigh more than 176 lbs.
By applying its “Design for Environment” and “Design for Circularity” approaches to the selection of materials, Mercedes-Benz Cars says it aims to increase the use of recycled materials per vehicle by 2030 to 40%.
