This is a smart use of resources.
At the start of 2022, Mercedes-Benz revealed the EQXX concept, an EV with a claimed 625-mile range. That claim was later validated in the real world, showing that Mercedes knows what it's doing and made the right call when it decided that it will soon develop its own EV powertrains.
The recently unveiled Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV provides yet more proof that the German automaker is adept at electrification, and the automaker has committed to taking the tech even further. Hence, it should come as no surprise to learn that even the brand's future combustion-powered cars will be based on the platforms that underpin EVs.
The news comes from Motor1.com following an interview with Mercedes vice president of development for electric drive, Christoph Starzynski. Speaking about the brand's MMA platform for compact cars, he says these will be designed exclusively for electric vehicles and then adapted to accept gas and diesel powertrains for the markets where these are still relevant: "The platform will be EV-first but not EV-exclusive, and the compromise will rest on the ICE side, not the EV side."
This platform will be debuted in 2024, starting off with small cars like the dead-in-America A-Class before being applied to other compact vehicles like the CLA and the GLA and GLB SUVs.
Interestingly, BMW has taken a similar approach, except that it has chosen to focus on more than just its smallest vehicles when it comes to platform modularity across powertrain types. BMW CEO Oliver Zipse (speaking with Car Magazine in 2021) revealed that the Neue Klasse platform due from 2025 will be able to accept both gas-powered and electrically-driven vehicles. The idea is that, with so many different markets and regulations worldwide, BMW is able to hedge its bets and provide vehicles for all sorts of regions. Mercedes seems to be doing the same thing here, developing EV technology while ensuring that some markets can still buy gas-powered cars. It's a good idea and will help bring price differences between traditional cars and EVs down, something that Mercedes sees as a huge challenge.
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