• News
  • Guides
  • Reviews
  • Media
  • About
  • News
  • Guides
  • Reviews
  • Media
  • About
Sign up Now (For Free)

Sign up for our newsletter and receive the latest automotive news in your inbox!

Invalid email address
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Thanks for subscribing!
News
Read Now
  • All News
  • Automakers
  • Automobiles
  • Auto Shows
  • Business
  • EVs & Environment
  • Guides
  • Lawsuits/Legal
  • Regulatory
  • Ride-Sharing
  • Safety & Recalls
  • Technology
Recent
  • The Rearview Mirror: All That the Name Implies
  • Top Tips for Improving EV Range in Cold Weather
  • Mercedes is First Automaker to Offer True Level 3 Hands-Free Driving System in the U.S.
  • Audi Introduces Fourth “Sphere” Concept: Activesphere
  • Jaguar Land Rover Posts First Profitable Quarter in Two Years
  • Musk Confirms Cybertruck Production Tracking for End of 2023
  • Polestar Raises its Game with the 2024 Polestar 2
  • Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda Steps Down, Hands Reins to Lexus Chief Koji Sato
  • Environmental Groups Chide GM for ICE Investments
  • Tesla Sets New Financial Benchmarks, But Misses Analysts Targets
Editor’s Choice
    Reviews
    Read Now
    • All Reviews
      • Feeder
    • Classic Cars
    • Concept Cars
    • Convertibles
    • Coupes
    • Crossovers/CUVs
    • Diesel
    • Hot hatches
    • Hybrids
    • Luxury Vehicles
    • Minivans
    • Muscle Cars
    • Pickups
    • Sedans
    • Sports Cars
    • Super Cars
    • SUVs
    Recent Reviews
    • A Week With: 2023 Ford F-150 Raptor R 4x4 Super Crew
    • A Week With: 2023 Genesis Electrified G80 AWD
    • A Week With: 2023 Land Rover Defender 110 V-8
    • First Drive: 2023 Honda Pilot TrailSport
    • A Week With: 2023 Jaguar F-Type R Coupe
    • A Week With: 2023 GMC Yukon Denali Ultimate
    • A Week With: 2023 Genesis GV60 Performance
    • A Week With: 2023 Chevrolet Suburban Z71
    • A Week With: 2023 Lexus UX 250h F Sport
    • A Week With: 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQB 300 4Matic
    Editor’s Choice
      Guides
      Car Warranty
      • Endurance Warranty Reviews
      • BMW Extended Warranty
      • Extended Warranty For Cars Over 100k Miles
      • Extended Car Warranty Cost
      • Subaru Extended Warranty
      • CarShield Reviews
      • CarShield Cost
      • Aftermarket Car Warranty
      • CARCHEX Warranty Reviews
      • Reputable Extended Car Warranty Companies
      • Used Car Warranty Companies
      • Best Car Warranty
      • Is CarShield A Scam?
      • Mercedes Extended Warranty
      • CarShield Plans
      Insurance
      • How To Identify A Car Insurance Company
      • Geico Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
      • How Far Back Does A Car Insurance Company Look
      • Mechanical Breakdown Insurance For Used Cars
      • State Farm Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
      • Mechanical Breakdown Insurance From Progressive
      • Dollar A Day Insurance
      • Auto Insurance For SSI Recipients
      • Car Insurance Rates After A Suspended License
      • Auto Insurance For Salvage Vehicles
      • Average Cost of Dodge Ram 1500 Car Insurance
      • Car Insurance Florida
      • Full Coverage Auto Insurance
      • GrubHub Insurance
      • Amazon Delivery Auto Insurance
      Shipping
      • Car Shipping Companies
      • uShip Reviews
      • Auto Shipping From California To Hawaii
      • Montway Auto Transport Reviews
      • Cheap Car Shipping
      • Easy Auto Ship Reviews
      • Auto Shipping Miami
      • Auto Shipping To Alaska
      • Car Shipping Cost
      • Auto Shipping Hawaii
      • Auto Shipping Puerto Rico
      • Sherpa Auto Transport Reviews
      • Auto Shipping Atlanta
      • Auto Shipping Boston
      • Auto Shipping. Chicago
      About
      • About Us
      • Contact Us
      • Terms of Use
      • Privacy Policy
      • Affiliate Disclosure
      • Sitemap
      TheDetroitBureau.com

      More than just “another” place to find news, reviews, spy shots, commentary, features, and guides about the auto industry. TheDetroitBureau doesn’t stop with the press releases or confuse a few lines of opinion with insightful, in-depth reporting.

      Contact Us

      Like what you see? Have some ideas for making The Detroit Bureau.com even better? Let us know, we’d love to hear your voice.

        Media
        Listen Now
        • Headlight News: All Episodes
        More from TheDetroitBureau
        • Guides
        • Latest News
        • Auto Reviews
        • Podcasts
        Headlight News

        TheDetroitBureau.com’s Headlight News offers a look at the past week’s top automotive news stories, as well as what’s coming up in the week ahead. Check out the week’s top story and our latest review…along with a dive into the past with this week in automotive history.

        home > reviews > Daimler to Go “Carbon Neutral” Under “Ambition2039″ Sustainability Plan

        Daimler to Go “Carbon Neutral” Under “Ambition2039″ Sustainability Plan

        Company credited with inventing the I.C. engine is helping to put it to rest, says environmental group.

        Paul A. Eisenstein
        Paul A. Eisenstein , Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
        May 13, 2019
        Mercedes revealed the U.S. version of its first long-range EV, the EQC Edition 1886, in NY last month.

        The automaker that effectively brought the internal combustion engine to life appears ready to drive a nail into its coffin.

        Daimler AG, the parent of the Mercedes-Benz and Smart brands says it expects plug-in hybrids and pure battery-electric vehicles, or BEVs, accounting for fully 50% of its sales by 2030, with a goal to go completely “carbon neutral” by 2039.

        We Keep You Plugged In!

        “One of the defining issues is how we address our CO2 footprint,” Ola Kallenius, Daimler’s next CEO, said during a conference in its headquarters city of Stuttgart on Monday morning.

        “Let’s be clear what this means for us: a fundamental transformation of our company within less than three product cycles,” Kallenius added, explaining that “We aim to have a carbon-neutral new passenger car fleet in 20 years,” as part of a strategy being dubbed “Ambition2039.”

        The automaker already has 10 plug-in hybrids, or PHEVs in its fleet and has begun the development of an equal number of long-range BEVs. The first, the EQC, officially went on sale last week in Europe, starting at 60,000 euros, or just over $67,410. The automaker has not announced U.S. pricing for the all-electric crossover. It won’t cross the Atlantic until next year, though the automaker showed off the initial American version, the EQC Edition 1886 at the New York International Auto Show last month.

        (Mercedes begins taking orders for the new EQC battery-electric vehicle. Click Here for more.)

        Ola Kallenius, who turns 50 in June, becomes Daimler CEO next month, replacing retiring Dieter Zetsche.

        That name references the year Daimler’s founders, Carl Benz and Gottlieb Willhelm Daimler, independently developed what are credited as the first automobiles powered by internal combustion engines. The announcement of Ambition2039 appears to suggest the company is now planning to move away from that technology.

        “It’s clear that the end of the road for the internal combustion engine is in sight,” said Helen Clarkson, CEO of the international environmental non-profit, “The Climate Group.”

        Like its key German rivals, Daimler was slow to embrace electrification, until recently focusing its efforts to trim CO2 production on high-mileage diesel engines. At their peak, earlier this decade, “oil-burners” accounted for more than half of overall European sales and were gaining traction in the American market, especially in the luxury segment. But the emissions scandal that enveloped Volkswagen in 2015 – with Daimler also being accused of bending its numbers – has led to a wholesale shift away from diesel technology.

        Daimler has committed billions to develop new electric vehicles, and to update factories to build both batteries and electrified vehicles. That includes $1 billion on a BEV production site for the U.S. Last December, meanwhile, it said it expects to spend 20 billion euros on batteries alone by 2030 –about $22.5 billion at current exchange rates.

        (Collectively, German automakers BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen will invest $45 billion on battery technology over the next three years, according to a report released by the VDA, a German auto trade group, in March 2019.)

        (Mercedes takes the lead in U.S. luxury car sales. Click Here for more.)

        The hydrogen-powered Mercedes-Benz GLC F-Cell shows Daimler is looking at various green alternatives.

        Daimler’s Kallenius said in his speech Monday morning that the automaker isn’t limiting its clean energy push to just battery-electric vehicles. It is continuing to develop hydrogen technology, as well. Fuel cell systems are sometimes referred to as “refillable batteries,” because they use the lightweight gas, in combination with oxygen from the atmosphere, to generate a stream of electric current that can be used to power the same sort of electric motors found in a vehicle like the Mercedes EQC. The only exhaust produced by a fuel cell stack is water vapor.

        “There’s also room and need to continue to work on other solutions,” said Kallenius, pointing to the GLC F-Cell hydrogen car Mercedes has produced in limited numbers.

        The company is also exploring the use of fuel cells to power some of the buses it builds. That approach could help address the chicken-and-egg problem the industry faces with hydrogen power, a lack of a refueling infrastructure. Proponents contend that bus and heavy truck fleets, working out of central depots or on fixed routes, would make it easier and more cost-justifiable to set up an infrastructure that could, eventually, also service passenger vehicles.

        (Sales spiraling down, Daimler kills Smart brand in the U.S. Click Here for the story.)

        Kallenius, who will take over from retiring Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche next week, said the new focus on sustainability won’t be limited to the cars the company builds. It is already moving to use electricity from renewable sources for production of the EQC at an assembly plant in Bremen, as well as Daimler’s new battery factory in Saxony. It plans to continue shifting to green energy sources for its plants, he said, while also upping the percentage of recycled materials used in its vehicles.

        How to Care for Your Car

        Cheap Car Warranty

        Editor's Choice

        Best Extended Car Warranty

        Editor's Choice
        Recently Published
        2023 Land Rover Defender 110 V-8 best front

        A Week With: 2023 Land Rover Defender 110 V-8

        Jan. 25, 2023
        2023 Honda TrailSport front 3-4 best

        First Drive: 2023 Honda Pilot TrailSport

        Jan. 24, 2023
        2023 GMC Yukon Denali Ultimate best

        A Week With: 2023 GMC Yukon Denali Ultimate

        Jan. 18, 2023

        Leave a Reply Cancel reply

        Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

        What Are You Looking For?

        See More
        Buying a new car? See our recommended reviews and guides.
        Buying a new car? See our recommended reviews and guides.
        Reviews and Resources When You Are Looking For a New Car
        Collection
        Car Reviews and Guides
        Collection

        Car Reviews and Guides
        Recommends
        The Best Car Insurance Companies in 2022 (with Costs)
        Recommends

        The Best Car Insurance Companies in 2022 (with Costs)
        Recommends
        Best Car Warranties – 2021 Comparison (Factory & Extended)
        Recommends

        Best Car Warranties – 2021 Comparison (Factory & Extended)
        Receommends
        Cheap Car Shipping
        Receommends

        Cheap Car Shipping
        Close
        Reviews and Resources When You Are Looking For a New Car
        Collection
        Car Reviews and Guides
        Collection

        Car Reviews and Guides
        Recommends
        The Best Car Insurance Companies in 2022 (with Costs)
        Recommends

        The Best Car Insurance Companies in 2022 (with Costs)
        Recommends
        Best Car Warranties – 2021 Comparison (Factory & Extended)
        Recommends

        Best Car Warranties – 2021 Comparison (Factory & Extended)
        Receommends
        Cheap Car Shipping
        Receommends

        Cheap Car Shipping
        Close
        Share this article:
        © The Detroit Bureau 2023
        • Guides
        • Privacy Policy
        • Terms of Use
        • Affiliate Disclosure
        • Contact Us
        • Sitemap
        Follow Us: