Every time an automaker rolls out a new electric vehicle, everybody immediately calls it a "Tesla fighter." The thinkpieces burn bright across the auto-writing landscape, wondering how an established automaker will fare in a battle with a plucky upstart that was born amid the tech boom, not a full century before. It looks like that cycle is about to start all over again this year, thanks to Mercedes and its parent company Daimler.
Daimler will introduce a long-range, battery-electric vehicle under the Mercedes brand umbrella at the Paris Motor Show this coming October, Reuters reports. According to Thomas Weber, Daimler's chief development officer, who spoke to a group of journalists, it will have a 310-mile (500-kilometer) range and will hit dealerships "sometime this decade."
The time to jump on the electric bandwagon is now, and Mercedes isn't the only one getting in on the action. Porsche has already vowed to put its gorgeous Mission E concept into production, and BMW is also expanding its "BMW i" sub-brand to include both electricity and autonomy.
While Daimler may not yet have a Tesla-fighter in its ranks, it's no stranger to battery-electric vehicles. The group already sells two different electric vehicles, one branded as a Smart and one as a Mercedes-Benz B-Class. It's also experimented with an electric powertrain in its SLS AMG supercar.
