Skip to main content

Daimler and Geely to develop Smart’s electric cars

Daimler, owner of Mercedes-Benz, has partnered with Chinese automotive group Zhejiang Geely Holding Group to develop Smart’s electric cars. Smart makes small vehicles designed for urban driving and the new joint venture will assemble the next generation of Smart products at a factory in China. International sales are due to begin in 2022. Dieter Zetsche, chairman of the Daimler board, says: “Separately, Mercedes-Benz will produce a compact electric vehicle [EV] at the Hambach plant, sustaining employ
April 9, 2019 Read time: 1 min

2069 Daimler, owner of 1685 Mercedes-Benz, has partnered with Chinese automotive group Zhejiang Geely Holding Group to develop Smart’s electric cars.

Smart makes small vehicles designed for urban driving and the new joint venture will assemble the next generation of Smart products at a factory in China. International sales are due to begin in 2022.  

Dieter Zetsche, chairman of the Daimler board, says: “Separately, Mercedes-Benz will produce a compact electric vehicle [EV] at the Hambach plant, sustaining employment with further investment in the facility.”

Mercedes is investing €500 million at the French location, where the compact EV will be produced under the EQ brand.

In the run-up to 2022, Daimler will continue producing vehicles such as the Smart EQ Fortwo at the Hambach plant, as well as using its Novo Metso facility in Slovenia to produce the smart EQ Forfour.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Cities get road priorities right
    March 22, 2022
    Cities including Paris, Milan and London have all announced serious expansions to their bicycling infrastructure over the last few years. The era of active travel is here, finds Alan Dron
  • Jet engine range extenders for electric vehicles
    June 19, 2015
    In its latest report, Range Extenders for Electric Vehicles Land, Water & Air 2015-2025, IDTechEx claims that over eight million hybrid cars will be made in 2025, each with a range extender, the additional power source that distinguishes them from pure electric cars. Add to that significant money spent on the same devices in buses, military vehicles, boats and so on and a major new market emerges. Whereas today's range extenders usually consist of little more than off the shelf internal combustion engine
  • The Dutch revolution in smart EV charging
    October 18, 2016
    By turning itself into one huge Living Lab for Smart Charging of electric vehicles, the Netherlands aims to become the international frontrunner for smart charging EVs, using them to store peak solar and wind power production. Already 325 municipalities, including Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht and The Hague, have joined the Dutch Living Lab Smart Charging project, representing 80 per cent of all public charging stations. It is also supported by the Dutch government and has been joined by some The New Motion
  • Volkswagen plans major investment in electric cars
    June 17, 2016
    The Volkswagen Group is making plans to become a world-leading provider of sustainable mobility; its ‘TOGETHER – Strategy 2025 provides the framework, with the focus on transforming the core business and tapping potential new revenue streams. The Group is planning a broad-based initiative in this area: it intends to launch more than 30 purely battery-powered electric vehicles (BEVs) over the next ten years and estimates that such vehicles could then account for around a quarter of the global passenger ca