Daimler will go all-electric in Europe by 2020 says CEO

A year after going all electric in North America, Daimler has announced that its smart car brand is all set to go fully electric in Europe by 2020, a significant move since Europe is a much bigger market for the German automaker than North America.

The electric smart cars have been brought under their new Mercedes-Benz EQ family under which the first Mercedes all-electric car has been planned to be built up from scratch.

Daimler CEO, Dieter Zetsche announced during the annual meeting in Germany: “Daimler also flipped the switch in the field of electric mobility long ago: Mercedes-Benz will offer at least one electrified version in each segment by 2022. smart is already completely electric in North America and the changeover will take place in Europe by 2020. At the same time, we are electrifying our vans, trucks and buses. And we have many more plans – also going beyond our products.”

Quite a few Mercedes-Benz dealerships in North America stopped carrying the smart cars sub-brand after Daimler discontinued gas-powered smart cars.