VANCE, Ala. — While cost and quick deliveries drove Mercedes’ decision to localize battery production in the U.S., there was another motivation: CO2.
Automakers are racing toward eliminating carbon emissions in their vehicle fleets and production plants, but also in their supplier networks.
“We want to provide CO2-neutral mobility,” Mercedes-Benz production and supply chain boss Jörg Burzer said last week as the company opened its new Alabama battery pack plant next door to the Mercedes vehicle assembly plant.
“That means that we have to work on our supply chain.”
Mercedes’ auto production in Germany is already CO2-free, Burzer said, and the Alabama plant will follow in 2024.
