However, driving distances in some U.S. urban areas are much longer.
“As communicated in the context of the market launch of the eSprinter 2019, we have initially focused on the European region when developing the vehicle.
“Accordingly, the performance requirements of the vehicle are tailored to the needs of customers in Europe,” a Mercedes spokesperson said.
Daimler also emphasized that “differing safety requirements were not decisive for the strategy of initially focusing on Europe.”
In the long run, however, Mercedes cannot ignore the U.S.
“We are constantly observing market developments and are in close contact with our customers in order to adapt our product portfolio to the needs of other markets,” the spokesperson added.
Daimler is working to further develop the eSprinter so it can be assembled and sold in the U.S. Daimler opened a plant to build the Sprinter in Charleston, S.C., two years ago.
Amazon has ordered 100,000 electric vans from Rivian, which are to be delivered by 2030. Rivian set up a production facility in Normal, Ill., supported by funds from Amazon.
