Mercedes launches a rival to Tesla’s Superchargers

Mercedes is looking to take on Tesla head on by launching an own-brand public charging service. The chargers will start to roll out in the United States later this year.

Making the announcement at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Markus Schäfer, Mercedes’s chief technology officer, said: At Mercedes-Benz, we’re fully committed to making the charging of battery electric vehicles easier and more accessible. By selecting MN8 Energy and ChargePoint as our partners in North America – two of the leaders in their respective fields – we’ll be able to continue to drive the transformation towards an electric future, which is one of the main pillars of our holistic, sustainable corporate strategy.”

In the US market, by 2027, Mercedes wants to have 400 charging locations, with as many as 2,500 connections. Most sites will have between four and 12 charging plugs, but a few might offer as many as 30. Mercedes says each charger will be capable of providing as much as 350kW charging speed (depending on local electrical supply, obviously). The service will be rolled out across Europe and China as well, with the first European sites opening in 2023 as well.

Mercedes says that each charging hub will be powered by accredited ‘green’ energy and that a solar-panel roof will be built at each location to provide lighting and security camera power.

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Most importantly, Mercedes has said that owners of its electric cars will be able to book spaces at these charging points, ensuring that they can get charging as soon as they arrive. Owners of other brands will be able to use the chargers, but won’t be able to book spaces.

Mercedes isn’t the first car maker to announce a potential rival set-up to Tesla’s much-praised Supercharger network – Audi and Renault have also announced similar plans. Mercedes is already part of the consortium that supports the IONITY charging service, which offers 350kW rapid charging, but it’s not known yet if the roll-out of its own network will have any effect on IONITY.

Currently, the fastest charging speed for any Mercedes model is the 200kW at which you can charge the EQS luxury saloon, so it’s likely that Mercedes has plans to introduce faster charging speeds for future models. Indeed, Schäfer said at CES that the chargers are designed to be upgradeable to even higher outputs than 350kW.

Mercedes says that the charging locations will be “spaced conveniently at regular intervals close to motorways, major intersections and metropolitan areas”.

In the meantime, you can still buy petrol-engined models from Mercedes, and the ultimate such model has just been launched in Ireland – the new Mercedes-AMG SL sports car has just arrived on these shores, with as much as 585hp and a starting price of €238,395. Unsurprisingly, Mercedes Ireland refers to the car as “a long-term investment” with passenger car sales manager Ciaran Allen describing it as a “true legend for the future”.