According to an article of that title published by the AP in my newspaper today, Mercedes Benz says it will build its own worldwide EV charging network starting in North America this year at a total cost of 1 billion Euros in order to compete with Tesla. When completed in six or seven years, the network will have 400 charging stations with more than 2,500 high-power plugs. When the entire system is built-out it will have more than 2,000 charging stations and over 10,000 plugs, worldwide. The Mercedes-branded network will be open to owners of all electric vehicles, but Mercedes owners will be able to reserve charging ports and get preference over other makes.
Each Mercedes station will have four to 12 ports with up to 350 kWh of charging power. Mercedes will share the cost of the NA network equally with MNS Energy. EV charging network provider ChargePoint is also a partner.
