Too Little, Too Late? Mercedes Asks Fans If They Really Want An EV - Finds That Many Got Tired Of Waiting And Moved To Tesla

The big question is how many Mercedes fans were serious about buying an EV Mercedes? Without high enough numbers, it just isn't work make a car, just for them, at a price that'll be palatable for them.

Part of the allure of Tesla, is the fact that its not an established Mercedes, BMW, Audi, and represents something new, different, and exciting.

While Mercedes has more than enough resources to be able to deliver the goods of a high performance EV, i'd say they'd be better off launching an EV brand seperate from Benz, representing something new, exciting, and a Tesla alternative.

Benz, Bimmer, Audi, or any other established brand taking on Tesla in the EV market, is similar to Microsoft taking on Apple in the music/mobile device sector...Apple is the cool niche similar to Tesla

They are doing just that, it's called EQ:

https://electrek.co/2016/09/29/mercedes-announces-new-all-electric-brand-eq-unveils-suv-with-250-miles-range-generation-eq/

Agreed - I simply do not see a MAJOR demand for EVs. In fact - I believe that the market is already almost saturated with those willing to live with the problems of range and charging.

THere is still no simply way for a person living in many of the worlds largest cities - living in an apartment - with no inside parking of any kind - to be able to charge their vehicle. Since EVs ARE logical Urban Vehicles - this problem HAS TO BE SOLVED for sales to progress. And charging stations - while offering some help - do have a problem when there are MANY people waiting in line to use them - the line moves SLOWLY. People object to the actual recharge time - waiting to use a re-charger is the definition of a real waste of time.

Good points, especially the urban nature of EVs. EVs have issues as a suburban, small town or rural vehicle as charging stations are few and far between. Living near a vacation destination we still don't see Teslas or other EVs. Seeing out of state family vehicles piled high with all their vacation stuff it is pretty obvious current EVs don't fit their needs.

Models S and X are "urban" vehicles, have "problems with range and charge"?

A Model 3 with 310 miles of range in an urban environment with a short commute will last two weeks without needing a charge, similar to a gas car. There will be urban superchargers this year, but if you are not in a hurry you can use any of the slower Level 2 chargers pretty much everywhere in major cities. SF has over 500 Level 2 chargers, the San Jose Area has over 1,000, NYC is over 1,000, Boston has 200. Many of them offer free charging as well. It really is not as big of a deal as you make it sound.

Tesla will do OK until MB comes out with the AMG version of its electric cars. The only problem MB will have to solve is how long to make the extension cord. Tesla is already ahead of them and getting supercharging stations all around. An all-electric E-Class for $100,000 to compete with the Tesla Model S? I don't think so.

Should read the Electrek article and pay attention to the included 2017 YTD registrations graph. It says it all.

There does not have to be a big demand for EV's. S-Class sales are not at the level of Camry's. There just have to be enough to satisfy luxury sedan levels of sales for Mercedes/Audi/BMW to be interested. They also do not want to be kept out of markets where there are rules coming that state you must have a certain % of your sales in EV's to sell in this jurisdiction.