Mercedes EQC, 1st Fully Electric Mercedes, Is Still In Production Hell — CleanTechnica Exclusive
Credit to Author: Maarten Vinkhuyzen| Date: Sat, 11 Jan 2020 01:00:06 +0000
Published on January 10th, 2020 | by Maarten Vinkhuyzen
January 10th, 2020 by Maarten Vinkhuyzen
Last week, there were some rumors on the internet and on some news services that the Mercedes EQC was a flop. There was no market for it because in its home market of Germany only 55 vehicles were delivered by November.
In a discussion with a Mercedes representative at the motor show “Salon de Brussel,” it was explained to me that only a handful of preliminary vehicles were produced. The factory was still in startup mode, with some challenges to solve.
I don’t think any of our readers have forgotten Tesla’s “production hell.” What many don’t know, is that most other carmakers have a similar experience. Partly, this is hidden because they have learned to give themselves some room between internal start of production planning and public start of deliveries. Another reason for less news about the struggles the legacy carmakers have with the start of production of electric vehicles is that it is just not news. Not that many people care.
Back to Mercedes, what exactly the problems are is not clear to me. But the problem is not lack of demand — the order books are well filled, as was made very clear to me. I think the rumor of no demand was born out of the American perspective on auto sales and demand.
In the USA, a car is first put on a dealer’s lot, and then sold.
In Europe, a car is first sold, and then production is planned.
As an example, when I ordered my new Renault ZOE in the beginning of November, there were just a few unallocated cars in the production planning that could be delivered before the end of 2019. Yep, I am lucky to be one of the beneficiaries of the 2019 incentive. There was no white one, my first choice, but a light blue one was available on December 16. There were all in all just a few dozen of the December production run not allocated. Now I have a blue one with a Bose sound system (I never have the radio on) and leather interior (I prefer cloth). To get the car to my specifications, I would have had to wait two or three months longer.
In the USA, the monthly sales numbers are a reflection of that month’s demand.
In Europe, the monthly delivery numbers are completely devoid of demand.
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Maarten Vinkhuyzen Grumpy old man. The best thing I did with my life was raising two kids. Only finished primary education, but when you don’t go to school, you have lots of time to read. I switched from accounting to software development and ended my career as system integrator and architect. My 2007 boss got two electric Lotus Elise cars to show policymakers the future direction of energy and transportation. And I have been looking to replace my diesel cars with electric vehicles ever since. And putting my money where my mouth is, I have bought Tesla shares. Intend to keep them until I can trade them for a Tesla car.