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Old 19th September 2019, 20:19   #1
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Mercedes-Benz to temporarily halt development of combustion engines to focus on electrics

According to German magazine Auto motor und sport, Daimler development chief Markus Schaefer said that they currently have no plans to develop a next-generation combustion engine and they are focusing on new electric powertrains.

The Group has just refreshed its range of internal combustion engines, now it is time to take a break. Daimler's head of development Markus Schäfer emphasizes that the main focus is now on electrification, electric drives and battery development. It is also a question of shifting capacity from internal combustion engine and transmission development to the new development areas. While they will not invest in the development of new combustion engines, Schaefer reportedly noted that they still might work on some specific parts to improve on their existing engines.

Source: Bing Translator link
https://www.translatetheweb.com/?ref...wicklung-2019/
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Old 20th September 2019, 13:55   #2
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Re: Mercedes-Benz to temporarily halt development of combustion engines to focus on electrics

Looks like the news is true after all. Twitter conversation between Elon Musk and Mercedes-Benz official account:

Name:  daimler.PNG
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Source:
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1174793960360800256

While Daimler halting development of combustion engines is a big news, I feel the future will be decided by technology and market conditions in the next 2-3 years. If the battery technology and declining prices continue the same trend as the last decade, then the EV adoption will be much faster than many believe.
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Old 24th September 2019, 23:05   #3
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Re: Mercedes-Benz to temporarily halt development of combustion engines to focus on electrics

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Originally Posted by sri_tesla View Post
Looks like the news is true after all.
Yes, it is true. This is probably the single most disappointing news for any petrolhead.

And here is an english tabloid cover of the news:

https://electrek.co/2019/09/19/daiml...tric-cars/amp/n
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Old 24th September 2019, 23:13   #4
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Re: Mercedes-Benz to temporarily halt development of combustion engines to focus on electrics

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Originally Posted by AMG Power View Post
Yes, it is true. This is probably the single most disappointing news for any petrolhead.

And here is an english tabloid cover of the news:

https://electrek.co/2019/09/19/daiml...tric-cars/amp/n

Drive a Tesla and you will forget about petrol cars. No need to keep changing oil, filter etc. Just keep charging the vehicle and keep driving
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Old 25th September 2019, 01:24   #5
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Mercedes-Benz to temporarily halt development of combustion engines to focus ...

Quote:
Originally Posted by rahulskumar View Post
Drive a Tesla and you will forget about petrol cars. No need to keep changing oil, filter etc. Just keep charging the vehicle and keep driving

I am in the USA, this week and I am driving a Tesla. I am not overly keen on electrical cars and I do not like the Tesla particularly. It is certainly innovative, but it is also very detached from what I enjoy about driving. Also, build quality is less than impressive, in my opinion.

I specifically got myself a Tesla, just so I could experience it for a few days. I have been in plenty of Tesla taxi's, but now I am driving one myself. The no sound accelerating is amusing, but I just love the sound track of a proper IC engine. And of course I am spoiled, because my Jaguar XJR still out accelerates a Tesla with a huge margin. And it does so accompanied by the glorious sound of a 4.0 L supercharged V8. Admittedly, the Tesla is quicker of the line, but so is a 40 year old DAF.

For me a Tesla is just an emotionless transportation pod, nothing to do with what I look for in a car. Oh, the charger cord had broken and they had to replace it. At least that is something you do not need to worry about in a petrol car!

Some of the current and soon to be released electrical cars from the other manufacturers are at least a bit less clinical then the Tesla.

Jeroen

Last edited by Jeroen : 25th September 2019 at 01:37.
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Old 25th September 2019, 01:41   #6
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Re: Mercedes-Benz to temporarily halt development of combustion engines to focus ...

Quote:
Originally Posted by AMG Power View Post
Yes, it is true. This is probably the single most disappointing news for any petrolhead.
A sad day indeed :'( . Godspeed ICEs! This is the beginning of the end of the world, at least as we petrolheads know it. I sure am going to miss that wrath-of-god baritone those AMGs were famous for.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeroen View Post
A Tesla is just an emotionless transportation pod, nothing to do with what I look for in a car...
True, they are just an electrical appliance for transportation. I must admit they do look pretty dope though.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeroen View Post
Some of the current and soon to be released electrical cars from the other manufacturers are at least a bit less clinical then the Tesla.
I'm counting on it!
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Old 25th September 2019, 07:39   #7
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Re: Mercedes-Benz to temporarily halt development of combustion engines to focus on electrics

Coincidentally, last week I gave a Quickride to a Daimler auto-engineer of their Whitefield office, and she confirmed the same. 80% (her number) of the engineering/research departments is working on EVs, it seems.
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Old 25th September 2019, 08:29   #8
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Re: Mercedes-Benz to temporarily halt development of combustion engines to focus on electrics

Makes immense sense. Car makers have been pouring tons of R&D dollars into making marginal improvements in technology. Assuming that there is no Euro 7 or Euro 8 standard for Daimler to work on complying, letting the good enough ICEs of today last until they are fully replaced by electrics is the right thing to do.
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Old 25th September 2019, 10:18   #9
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Re: Mercedes-Benz to temporarily halt development of combustion engines to focus on electrics

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Originally Posted by Hayek View Post
Assuming that there is no Euro 7 or Euro 8 standard for Daimler to work on complying, letting the good enough ICEs of today last until they are fully replaced by electrics is the right thing to do.
Stricter emissions comes to into effect from next year (Jan 1st 2020). Average emissions limit will be 95 g/km of CO2 from 2020. 2018 average emissions for passenger cars is 120.5 g/km. If they don't meet, then there will be penalty of €95 for every g/km of excess emissions per vehicle.

Unless the each manufacturer's fleet includes many plug-in hybrids and BEVs, most of the manufacturers will find it difficult to meet the 2020 targets.

EU emissions in 2018:
Mercedes-Benz to temporarily halt development of combustion engines to focus on electrics-eu.jpg
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Old 25th September 2019, 11:43   #10
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Re: Mercedes-Benz to temporarily halt development of combustion engines to focus on electrics

It was pretty much end of day for ICE engines, the moment emission cheating news started coming in. And it wasn't one manufacturer. Mercedes, VW, FCA. All resorted to that. It just meant, the bean counters found it more profitable to pay the fines rather than actually develop methods to reduce emissions. That for me signalled that we were close to the limit of emissions that could be achieved with ICE engines.
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Old 25th September 2019, 15:25   #11
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Re: Mercedes-Benz to temporarily halt development of combustion engines to focus on electrics

The original article says Merc is shifting their focus to electrification. Anyway Merc is far ahead of others in IC engine development, thanks to its involvement in Formula1 hybrid engine development. Merc AMG HPP head Andy Cowell said if they transfer F1 technology to a road car, a V2 400cc hybrid engine is good enough to produce healthy 200PS and can be used in a C class.
https://www.chelseamagazines.com/wp-...ingF1Guide.pdf
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Old 25th September 2019, 15:46   #12
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Re: Mercedes-Benz to temporarily halt development of combustion engines to focus on electrics

It's a reality that we will need to accept. The way IC engines are being targeted and EVs are being promoted, it's not surprising that MB took this step. As Hayek sir has mentioned, the manufacturers do not have to work on any more upcoming norms for IC engines which does not make much sense to invest more on them. Eventually other manufacturers are also bound to follow the same path as MB and allocate more resources on EVs.

European countries and China have setup quite optimistic and strict targets in terms of timelines for complete EV adoption. The way things are progressing, we might see the dearth of IC engines more earlier than we had anticipated.
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Old 25th September 2019, 21:46   #13
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Re: Mercedes-Benz to temporarily halt development of combustion engines to focus on electrics

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Originally Posted by rahulskumar View Post
Drive a Tesla and you will forget about petrol cars.
This is like suggesting a multivitamin tablet instead of a buffet.
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Old 26th September 2019, 02:11   #14
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Re: Mercedes-Benz to temporarily halt development of combustion engines to focus on electrics

Here's my theory about how future performance EVs will try to woo car enthusiasts. They will mimic ICE powertrains. Not just in sound etc. but also in power delivery including pseudo-shifting. One day you could have a M120 V12 with the Zonda soundtrack, another day you could have a 6.7 Cummins Diesel with crazy blow-offs, if you want.
---
On a more "on-topic" note, it is interesting to see that MB is going all in the EV game. Will be interesting how they challenge the Taycan.

But are EVs really sustainable in the long term? A lot of power (worldwide) isn't really green and like fossil fuels, rare-earth minerals are a limited resource too, right?
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Old 26th September 2019, 02:43   #15
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Re: Mercedes-Benz to temporarily halt development of combustion engines to focus on electrics

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But are EVs really sustainable in the long term? A lot of power (worldwide) isn't really green and like fossil fuels, rare-earth minerals are a limited resource too, right?
I am sure there are several threads on this topic. What you have mentioned are some of the top myths.

In terms of generation - Solar panels on a small patch/square of 145 miles on each side can power all of USA. I have just 9 solar panels on top of my house, it produces more electricity than what I use during the entire year. On a mid sized home like mine, I can install 10 times the number of panels I currently have - powering 10 homes in theory. Today American cities are having to deal with safety concerns of dismantling and disposing spent fuel from old nuclear power stations. They can't leave them in place, they cannot transport them safely. Also, consider the issues from Fukushima Daiichi disaster, and the costs involved. IMHO, these are the primary reasons why USA, France, and others want to export/dump nuclear tech to India.

Unlike a tank of petrol, a battery pack on a modern EV can last 200,000 miles. Even after that it can be used in utility grade storage solutions for wind farms and such. Finally, when there is a need to dispose, it can be done in a contained manner at a dedicated site. This is unlike the air pollution that is spread wherever the ICE vehicle has ever been to in its lifetime. Good luck to mankind in capturing/cleaning this mess.

Once the switch to EVs are made, there will be further innovations in the area of better batteries, and alternate minerals. We already have various mineral mixes used in batteries. With things like wireless charging, and autonomous tech, we would not have a need for giant batteries. It is the addiction of tapping into freely available oil, and leaving the expensive cost of dealing with the pollution for our future generations that is the biggest roadblock.

Quote:
Originally Posted by AMG Power View Post
This is like suggesting a multivitamin tablet instead of a buffet.
That thought is not so far off. Tesla clearly has not mastered the craft of making inexpensive cars, they still make a compelling case.
https://insideevs.com/features/36251...-toyota-camry/

Last edited by GutsyGibbon : 26th September 2019 at 02:50.
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