By Giles Milner, December 15, 2024
How do you make vans interesting? You enlist the finest minds from Mercedes’ marketing department, craft catchy slogans, and, of course, goosestep your design and engineering teams into a bunker, lock them up and throw away the keys until they create a groundbreaking new electric van. Germany needs to prove itself in the EV realm because they have proved very little so far.
But now, perhaps somewhat begrudgingly, Mercedes is once again venturing into the world of electric vans—not to reduce emissions, save the polar bears, or halt deforestation. No, Mercedes wants to make electric vans great again simply to avoid fines from EU emissions regulators.
From 2026, Mercedes-Benz Vans will unveil the revolutionary Van Electric Architecture (VAN.EA), a modular and scalable platform designed to lead humanity into a new era of they really don’t want or need at the present moment.
The show car will embody Mercedes-Benz Vans’ vision of ultimate luxury, hopefully elegance, and space, offering a glimpse into a future Mercedes is being pushed into by regulators. Its world premiere, a milestone in progress, is set for spring 2025.
