Mercedes is immersed in a transformation process to, like so many others, become an electric brand. An objective that also includes its ‘Vans’ division, which includes commercial vehicles from Stuttgart. The brand has just announced the results of the reorganization of its European production network and there is good news for our country: the new electric van from Mercedes will be manufactured in Spain.
VAN.EA (Van Electric Architecture) is the new platform on which the vehicles of the Mercedes-Benz Vans division will sit. With it, the German brand accelerates its transformation to be able to offer a totally zero-emissions portfolio of products. VAN.EA will be the basis for all medium and large electric vans that will hit the market from 2025.
The official confirmation
Last September, Mercedes revealed its intention to adapt its European factories to produce electric vans based on the new platform. To do this, they met with the plants in Germany (Düsseldorf and Ludwigsfelde) and Spain (Vitoria). It was then that the rumors began to circulate: they all pointed to the arrival of a new vehicle at the factory in the Basque Country.
Three months later, the news has been confirmed. Mercedes has announced that, Starting in the middle of this decade, Vitoria will manufacture a new medium-sized electric van based on the VAN.EA platform. Not surprisingly, this plant is in charge of the European production of this type of vehicle: the Mercedes V-Class, the EQV, the eVito and the eVito Tourer come from its lines.
Mercedes’ announcement comes after having signed an agreement with the Vitoria factory to shape an agreement that will be in force until 2026. With it, it will arrive an economic injection of 1,200 million euros which ensures the future of the plant for the coming decades. A part of this investment will go to the line of current combustion models, but most will go to the manufacture of new vans. The objective is none other than to double the production capacity.
Plans for the Mercedes Sprinter
The production of the Mercedes Sprinter will be divided between Düsseldorf and Ludwigsfelde (Germany). The first of these two plants is already in charge of manufacturing the current generation of the combustion van model and the Mercedes eSprinter. In 2023, the next generation of the electric version will arrive, and also some versions of the chassis-cab model based on VAN.EA.
The second hosts, since 2018, the production of the chassis-cab version of the Mercedes Sprinter. Starting in the spring of 2024, its lines will welcome the electric variant and the plant will be enabled to create, there, the headquarters of the center in charge of customizing the bodywork of Mercedes electric vans.
The Polish factory
In Jawor (Poland), Mercedes has been manufacturing combustion engines since 2019 and batteries since 2021. This has been the location chosen by the German brand to manufacture the van versionsof their future large vans on the electric platform VAN.EA. When the transformation is complete, it will become the first purely electrical plant of the Stuttgart manufacturer.
