Autobayng News Team
- Mercedes-Benz plans to buy billions of dollars worth of electric vehicle batteries.
- It has inked multiple supply deals with Korea’s LG Energy Solution this year.
- The automaker plans to launch more than a dozen new or refreshed EVs in the next couple of years.
The rate at which automakers are inking billion-dollar deals to secure future battery supply seems to overlook any looming concerns about a projected electric vehicle sales slowdown or a battery glut.
LG Energy Solution has secured a $1.4 billion battery order from Mercedes-Benz for a seven-year supply deal running between March 2028 and June 2035, several Korean news outlets reported on Monday.
The deal will cover Mercedes-Benz EVs for Europe and North America, as per the filing, but the contract value and terms could be subject to change. Still, it’s a sign that the appetite for batteries isn’t showing any signs of slowing down.
This was the second time this year that LGES secured an order from the German automaker. In September, LGES said it would supply batteries totaling 32 gigawatt-hours to the carmaker by 2035 and another 75 GWh to a Mercedes-Benz affiliate by the end of 2037.
Mercedes-Benz is planning to launch a full spectrum of EVs between now and the end of the decade, as it moves away from its jellybean-shaped cars such as the EQS and EQE, which got a lukewarm response, to a new generation of redesigned models riding on bespoke platforms. Photo by: Mercedes-Benz
The company plans to launch the new CLA EV, riding on the 800-volt Mercedes Modular Architecture (MMA), in the first quarter of next year. The GLC with EQ Technology, also riding on an 800-volt MB.EA platform, is expected to arrive sometime by the end of next year.
These are among 15 new or refreshed models that the brand plans to roll out in the next couple of years in what it sees as the “biggest product launch program” in company history. The deal with LGES should take care of the battery needs of these models.
LGES, meanwhile, had a big year on the battery front. That’s despite the regulatory turmoil with the end of the $7,500 federal tax credit and revised fuel economy rules putting a big question mark on EV demand. 2027 Mercedes GLC EV: Prototype Drive Photo by: Mercedes-Benz
The battery giant inked a $4.3 billion deal with Tesla for lithium-iron phosphate energy storage batteries. And it is also working with General Motors to develop the lithium manganese-rich (LMR) cells for the automaker’s full-size trucks and SUVs from 2028 onwards.
Even if the EV market contracts in the short term, these billion-dollar order books indicate that automakers expect the future to be increasingly battery-powered.
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