Mercedes-Benz USA chief on the threat of electric cars

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Dietmar Exler

HIP Incorporated

Elon Musk may take issue with Dietmar Exler.

The electric vehicle poses an existential threat to the gasoline car — however, that threat is "more than a decade" away, Exler, Mercedes-Benz USA's freshly minted chief told me at an Atlanta Press Club event Tuesday.

Dietmar Exler

HIP Incorporated

The electric vehicle market has gotten turbocharged in recent years by Nissan on the low end and Elon Musk's Tesla Motors on the high end. With the Leaf, Nissan has delivered a relatively affordable electric car. With the Model S, Tesla has proven electric cars can go faster and be more fun to drive.

The auto industry is catching up as General Motors, Honda, BMW, Mercedes and Audi have announced electric vehicle rollouts.

A few technology and market realities will keep electric vehicles from going mainstream anytime soon, Exler said in a free-ranging interview on his industry's forthcoming disruption.

Two decades ago, there was much talk of electric vehicles becoming common a decade from then, Exler said. It didn't quite happen as battery capacity didn't increase as fast as everybody anticipated.

Battery capacity-to-price ratio would have to narrow for mass adoption of electric vehicles.

"It's all well and nice to (offer) an electric vehicle," Exler said. "But, if the average consumer can't afford it, we have a problem."

The other challenge keeping automakers from fully embracing EVs is the used-car market for such vehicles.

"Would you be comfortable buying a four-year-old electric car that might not have a warranty on the battery (the most expensive part in an EV)?"

Despite reservations around electrics, Mercedes is "pushing in that direc tion," first with hybrid vehicles. The automaker also sells a B-class all-electric in 10 EV-friendly U.S. states. Mercedes will offer an EV fleet in two-to-three years, Exler said.

Like Musk, Exler sees autonomous — or self-driving — vehicles accelerating toward the auto industry.

Vehicles, such as Tesla's Model S sedan, already offer autonomous capability geared for Interstate driving. Using sensors and radars, the cars can autonomously maintain driving distance, change lanes, follow curves and brake without driver intervention.

Mercedes' new E-class, which will begin selling in June, is licensed for autonomous driving in Nevada, Exler said.

"It's a production car," he said. "It's not the Silicon Valley cars with 15 sensors on top that look like (they're) from Mars."

A world of fully autonomous vehicles cruising around cities with no one in the driver seat, however, will have to wait until industry regulators catch up, Exler noted.

"Our cars — the E-Class and S-class — can do autonomous driving today," Exler said. "The law does not allow us to do it."

Urvaksh Karkaria covers Technology.

Source: Mercedes-Benz USA chief on the threat of electric cars