EVs will dominate Australia – Mercedes-Benz CEO

Australians have always been keen early adopters when it comes to technology, and while that hasn’t proven to be the case so far with EVs, at least in global terms, Mercedes-Benz Australia CEO Horst van Sanden believes that’s going to change.

“It’s a bit of a gut feel thing, but my experience, living in Australia for the last 20 years,  has aways been that when Australia is behind in certain things, the speed of catching up is outstanding,” says van Sanden, who is finishing up his role at Benz later this year, after 17 years in the top job. 

“Once there is a critical mass and interest takes off, we might be surprised by just how fast we catch up.

“Sales of EVs and plug-in hybrids will continue  to grow locally and electric will be the dominant technology in the future.

“I can’t say how long it will take, but you can already see it happening. The  interest in our EQC was enormous when we did  the pre launch.

“A lot of people are ready to move into the lower model ranges with the more affordable price tags, and that will help enormously to grow the group of EV enthusiasts in this country.”

Indeed, buyers of the Mercedes-Benz EQC in Australia were so keen that the company reports that most of them slapped down their cash without even sitting in one, let alone taking a vehicle for a test drive.

A rapid global growth in EVs is also very much on the radar of Mercedes’ global CEO, Ola Källenius.

Speaking to media at the launch of the new S-Class this week – which comes with a PHEV offering a 100km full-electric range, but is not a full EV, because the company already has an EQS set to take that role – Källenius was bullish about an electric future.

“I think during the this decade we will have a major transformation of mobility and luxury mobility, but it will not take place at the same speed in every market,” he said.

“We believe for the next few years it will be a combination of plug-in, internal combustion and fully electric cars, and so we have asked ourselves, what do we do? And we really have to do all of the above.

“We cannot just drop out and say, ‘let’s have one single horse in the race, the fully electric version’. With the packaging of the skateboard set-up, it will look completely different, it’s not an  S-Class that looks the same, it’s a different luxury tech proposition.

“So from us you will get everything.

“When will it all come together, in terms of full EV, I can’t put a timeline on it, but it will be a combination of technology and customer preference and infrastructure around the world.”