Currently, Mercedes’ EVs (like the EQS SUV and EQE Sedan) support 400V, not 800V. Indeed, at CES in previous years, executives at the automaker have insisted that the absence of that higher-power architecture hasn’t been a drawback for its electric models. This year, though — and with the first MMA-based vehicles fast approaching — Schäfer is talking a slightly different story.
“The shift to 800V cars and, associated with that, chargers that offer 300, 350, or even 500 kW, this will happen immediately,” Schäfer predicts. “Tesla is moving there: In the Cybertruck they’re moving in the world of 800V. Hyundai is moving there … If you look in the world, things are clearly moving there.”
With very fast DC charging support on both the vehicle side and the infrastructure side, it might also follow that concerns about EV range would also be squashed. That’s certainly the strategy many in the industry hope will pan out, given that the battery pack is the single most expensive element of an electric vehicle. Unfortunately, Schäfer isn’t convinced, at least not for the moment.
