LAS VEGAS — Mercedes-Benz is taking a page out of the Tesla playbook on electric vehicle charging.
The luxury automaker revealed plans Thursday at CES to develop a global network of 10,000 high-speed chargers powered by green energy. The rollout will begin this year in the U.S. and Canada and expand to Europe, China and other major markets by decade’s end.
Unlike Tesla’s proprietary network of more than 40,000 Superchargers globally, the Mercedes’ branded chargers will be open to other automakers’ vehicles from the outset.
Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Källenius described the charging network plans as a “differentiator” for the brand, which seeks to go all-electric by 2030 in ready markets.
“This is about adoption,” Källenius said on a media call early Thursday. “We want to give Mercedes customers around the world yet another reason to join us on the journey towards electrification.”
The overall investment in the charging network will be in the “low single-digit” billion euros, Källenius said.
In North America, Mercedes will partner with renewable energy and battery storage operator MN8 Energy to develop the sites, and with equipment provider ChargePoint to supply the chargers.
Mercedes and MN8 Energy will invest about $1 billion in the North American network over the next six to seven years.
“We believe this is a bankable asset,” Källenius said. “This is something that you will be able to monetize when you come out of the investment phase.”
