Mercedes is now making EQS batteries

Mercedes-Benz is manufacturing high-performance batteries for the new luxury all-electric Mercedes EQS at the Stuttgart-Hedelfingen plant, which is part of the automaker’s Untertuerkheim site in Germany.

The Mercedes EQS is the first model in a new wave of high-performance electric cars, with a range of over 700km (WLTP), driven by improvements in battery energy density and a high-efficiency powertrain.

At the Hedelfingen plant, battery production has been seamlessly integrated with transmission production, transforming the plant into a vital part of Mercedes’ worldwide battery manufacturing network.

The site has a logistics and production area of around 16,500 sq m. The lithium-ion batteries are manufactured on a 300m production line, which has 70 stations and a high degree of automation as well as manual workers.

The EQS battery system contains a wide range of components, including as many as 12 cell modules, and the EE-compartment for power electronics, which are intelligently integrated into the system. This compartment is made in Berlin.

The luxury electric car will come with battery layouts that enable different performance and range variants. Software developed in-house will allow the electronics to be updated over the air, which means energy management can be kept up to date throughout the car’s whole lifetime.

EQS battery chemistry contains a reduced amount of cobalt, down to about 10%, in a ratio of 8:1:1 nickel, cobalt and manganese.

Mercedes’ next battery production initiative will be the creation of a new factory focused on small-series production of lithium-ion battery cells. This factory is slated to be operational by 2023.