Justin Bullock, FISM News
Elon Musk’s Tesla vehicles have taken the US by storm in recent years with the development of the world’s first effective electric vehicles. In the aftermath, many major automobile manufacturers are looking to break into the market since Tesla has achieved such success. Mercedes-Benz is the latest manufacturer to follow Tesla’s lead as they have pledged to have all of their vehicles become fully electric by 2030.
This move will cost Mercedes-Benz approximately $47 billion dollars in research and development over the next eight and a half years. Mercedes joins Volvo in their aspirations to go fully electric by 2030. General Motors has also pledged to go fully electric in all of their vehicles, but has set their deadline to 2035. In order to achieve this, much of the cost for Mercedes will involve building eight planned battery plants and developing the attendant effective technology.
To some degree the shift to electric vehicles is being spurred on by governments around the world. Europe is particularly keen on the electric vehicle idea. In fact, the European Union is considering making electric vehicles mandatory on a scaling system over the next decade and has even proposed banning non-electric vehicles by 2035. Many officials are saying that they expect and desire for at least 50% of vehicles manufactured and sold in Europe to be electric by 2025. In addition, taxes and restrictions surrounding gasoline production and sale are expected to gradually increase in order to phase out non-electric vehicles.