Mercedes to invest $1 billion to make its Alabama plant EQ ready

Mercedes-Benz has set the ball rolling across the globe, making strategic provisions and investments in its electric endeavour. Latest in the scheme of things is the 1.3 billion dollar investment into its Alabama facility in the US to make it EQ ready.

Mercedes’ electric car range is called the EQ range and after the SUV that was showcased last year, we saw the EQ hatch debut this year and the sedan will follow soon. The EQ SUV is one of the first Mercedes all-electric cars to go into production and is almost production ready. To go into production in 2020, the SUV will be closely followed by the hatch and a slew of models till 2025.

The billion dollar investment is being done to realign, retool and adapt the production line for production of the EQ series of vehicles. Also included in its purview is Mercedes’ fifth battery plant globally and the first in US to support the EQs. The Alabama facility now produces Mercedes SUVs and the EQ SUV will be an ideal extension to its line-up.

Also, Mercedes will be developing a logistics centre which will cater to the EQ SUV demand across the American continents. The Alabama facility will also double up as the manufacturer of car-kits to overseas assembly plants.