From Tesla to Mercedes-Benz

German luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz have recently launched a US energy division. Similarly BMW, Ford and other auto companies are doing the same with a range of utilities and renewable energy providers.

 A Bloomberg New Energy Finance forecast predicts that major automakers such as Volkswagen and Renault will provide demand for a significant amount of new battery manufacturing capacity expected to come online within the next four years. It is expected that capacity will reach 278 gigawatt-hours (up from 103 presently) by 2021.

"Mercedes-Benz Energy is not only focused on energy storage, but rather looking at the whole ecosystem of home energy solutions to support a customer’s transition to an electric vehicle." "Being our own entity gives us the ability to navigate the energy storage space with the speed and flexibility of a startup, while still utilising the resources and power of the Mercedes-Benz brand," according to the statement from Mercedes-Benz Energy Americas, which added that the company's parent automaker plans to have 10 all-electric models on the market by 2022.