Mercedes begins building Gigafactory
New $700 million lithium ion factory in Germany will help German car maker close manufacturing gap to TeslaMercedes-Benz has announced it has broken ground on a new €500 million (A$700 million) factory that will manufacture lithium ion battery cells for its forthcoming range of EQ-branded vehicles.
Located in Kamenz, Germany, some 50km north of Dresden, the factory's breaking ground ceremony was overseen by German chancellor Angela Merkel.
Heralded as Europe's first lithium ion 'Gigafactory’. It’s been reported that the new facility will help the German car maker rival Tesla’s factory for battery cell manufacturing.
Tesla, and its partner Panasonic broke ground at its Nevada site back in 2014 and expects to begin production towards the end of this year before reaching full production capability in 2018.
Benz, meanwhile, has announced that its battery facility will begin making batteries by the middle-of 2018.
When production starts, the German plant will not only supply batteries for the firm's first EQ models (due in 2019) but manufacture cells for sister brand Smart and supply small lithium ion batteries for mainstream Mercedes models as it converts to 48V hybrid models.
Mercedes says it is confident that electric cars will make up between 15-25 per cent of total vehicle sales by 2025.
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