Next-Gen Mercedes-Benz S-Class To Retain Internal Combustion Power

Mercedes-Benz plans to keep internal combustion power around for the next-gen S-Class, according to Britain’s AutoCar. Earlier this year, the Stuttgart-based automaker announced its revised strategy, which included dialing back on its aggressive all-electric vehicle lineup plans in an adjustment for the lack of demand for electric vehicles.

But instead of going all-in with EVs, the company retracted its initial strategy, reassessed, and will plan to keep on investing in internal combustion tech for the meantime. Though Benz still isn’t fully giving up on EVs as the plan is to offer the choice of either ICE or electric power for customers, meaning there will ultimately be two versions of the S-Class available for the next-gen, giving customers the option to choose their propulsion of choice. Other companies are employing similar strategies of offering either gas or gas-electric hybrid options and the choice of all-electric power for a single model.

Next-Gen S-Class Will Feature Both ICE and EV Propulsion Options

Speaking with Mercedes-Benz’s CEO, Ola Källenius, AutoCar learned that Mercedes-Benz will roll out two different architectures to support the two versions of S-Class models, the two versions being ICE and EV. In addition to being able to offer customers the choice, Källenius said that it’s also for packaging reasons as an all-electric or even a gas-electric hybrid S-Class would compromise the interior and trunk space too much, particularly when discussing the rear seats. Rear seat accommodations are an important benchmark for S-Class customers as many affluent owners use the worldly luxury sedan as a limousine with a chauffeur.

“If you don’t believe that the market is 100% electric at that point, you have to have the choice for both. You need to offer the electric and the high-tech electrified ICE version without compromise,” Källenius said during a press conference. “The only solution that we think is viable in that scenario is that you have two platforms. The packaging advantages on the electric one are so obvious. If you put a combustion engine car into an electric car, you sacrifice space that you wouldn’t want to.”

Though despite backpedaling on its EV plans, Källenius did say that Benz is still fully committed to researching and developing electric vehicles. Though the R&D isn’t focused on the physical hardware aspects of the propulsion systems, but rather the platform architecture and software associated with the systems that also help to keep them running smoothly. Even with the commitment, he also said the path forward is still largely dependent on market demand and conditions and so far, the market conditions and projections for the future aren’t entirely favorable for an all-electric future.

“If we now think that by 2030 the market is not going to be absolutely dominant electric, it would not make any economic sense to walk away from a large part of the market,” Källenius continued in his remarks. “If it’s 50:50 (internal combustion and electric), you’re not going to walk away from half of your business. Then you need to make sure that you extend your ICE strategy beyond the point that you had originally thought.”

Källenius also admitted that developing two separate platforms for the same model will be costly, though it’s necessary and will be “manageable” as long as the company does it in “an intelligent way.”

Source: AutoCar