According to Electrive, the campus will house a small battery factory in the beginning and by 2025, a Battery Safety Lab and different testing machines for future battery technologies will be built there.

This is Mercedes-Benz's effort to transform the nearly 120-year-old plant of Untertürkheim into "a high-tech location for drive technologies as part of the Group’s ‘Electric Only’ strategy."

Ola Källenius, Chairman of the Board of Management of the Mercedes-Benz Group, said that "together with our highly trained and motivated workforce, we are shaping the transition into a new electric era. Untertürkheim will continue to be the center of Mercedes-Benz drive expertise in the future.”

The campus is also said to host the development of future electric drive trains, as Mercedes wants to focus the whole research, design and production process at the future plant.

Ergun Lümali, Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board and General Works Council of the Mercedes-Benz Group, said that "the laying of the foundation for the eCampus and the associated investments in the expansion of battery technology are a clear commitment to the future viability of this traditional location."

Tesla Gigafactory in Berlin is another electric car hub in Europe, as the American carmaker started manufacturing the Model Y there in late March, with hundreds of vehicles leaving the production line every week.

Before the end of the year, Tesla wants to switch to the new 4680 battery packs for the Model Y produced at Giga Berlin, which may imply the shutdown of the factory for a few weeks.

BMW also plans the development of the iFactory, which the German carmaker aims to be the first car plant in the world to completely eliminate the need of using fossil-fuels.

The future car plant will be built in Debrecen and will source all of its energy requirements from sources directly at the plant or from local renewable sources of energy, which should help with the company's plan to reduce production-related emissions by 80% by 2030.

Photo source: Mercedes-Benz