Sustainability has many aspects. As a premium manufacturer, Mercedes-Benz strives to develop products that are particularly environmentally compatible in their market segment. As part of the “Ambition 2039” vision, the aim of Mercedes-Benz for its passenger cars is to offer a CO2‑neutral new car fleet 20 years from now. With the Mercedes-Benz EQC 400 4MATIC, the company is bringing the first Mercedes-Benz vehicle to market under the product and technology brand EQ this year. This model has just successfully absolved the 360° environmental check. The results were comprehensively verified by TÜV Süd. The environmental check is based on an eco balance in which the environmental effects of the car are examined over the entire lifecycle, from the mining of raw materials to production and use, and eventual disposal. In this respect the EQC 400 4MATIC benefits from continuous locally emission-free operation and the high efficiency of the electric powertrain. What is also clear, however, is that the power mix for vehicle operation plays a particularly decisive role in the CO2 balance (for details of this holistic analysis see here).
Only an assessment of the entire lifecycle of a vehicle provides a realistic picture of its CO2 footprint, for example. Mercedes-Benz has been regularly conducting this so-called environmental check, which takes all environmental aspects into account, since as early as 2005. The calculations are based on a driving distance of 150,000 to 300,000 kilometres, depending on the segment. In the case of the EQC this is 200,000 kilometres. During subsequent operation, and depending on their power source, electric vehicles can compensate the initially higher CO2 emissions that occur during production. If one is able to operate electric vehicles only with renewable energy sources, the CO2 emissions compared to those of vehicles with combustion engines shrink by up to 70 percent over the lifecycle.
Aim: CO2-neutral ex factory
Under what are otherwise the same conditions, more CO2 is generated during the production of an electric vehicle compared with a conventional vehicle, as battery cell production in particular requires a great deal of energy. This makes it all the more important to procure CO2-neutral energy for production in the future. Mercedes-Benz already plans to achieve this from 2022. All of the European plants are to have CO2-neutral production by then. One step on the way in Germany is power from national wind farms, for which subsidies according to the Renewable Energy Law (EEG) cease after 2020. Mercedes-Benz is the first large industrial customer to purchase from this source. In this way the company is safeguarding the continued, long-term operation of north German windfarms. This green energy from the windfarms is to be used e.g. for EQC production at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Bremen, and for battery production at the location of Deutsche ACCUMOTIVE in Kamenz, Saxony. At the Bremen Customer Centre, the EQC is also charged with solar energy before handover to customers collecting their vehicles.
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SOURCE: Daimler
