Mercedes-Benz sells its European EV charging network to Electra

Mercedes-Benz has sold its European EV fast-charging network to French operator Electra, ending its run as an owner-operator of chargers in the region. The disposal was disclosed in the automaker's third-quarter financial report, which valued the assets associated with the business at €99 million ($111 million).

The network comprised 374 fast-charging ports at 47 locations across Europe, all of which now belong to Electra. The sale was first reported by Electrive.

What Mercedes drivers get from the deal

Electra becomes a "Premium Partner" for Mercedes-Benz, second only to Ionity in that tier. Mercedes EV drivers can charge at discounted rates at more than 5,000 Electra chargers across 800 locations in several European countries.

The former Mercedes stalls were folded into Electra's network this past weekend; card payment terminals will be replaced soon and station branding switched to Electra's.

For drivers, the practical change is less about where the plugs are than who runs them. The hardware stays put, but the premium access Mercedes once built for itself now comes through a partner deal, which is a cheaper way for the brand to keep offering perks without owning the sites.

Why the company stepped back

Mercedes-Benz now relies exclusively on third-party operators for EV charging in Europe. Paul Tonini, Electra's General Manager for Germany, told Electrive that the market is consolidating around larger providers, leaving relatively small players like the former Mercedes-Benz Charging Network struggling to keep finances in check.

Scale cuts both ways here: a bigger network spreads costs and earns more, while a 374-port operation sits below the size where that maths works. Mercedes keeps the customer benefit and sheds the capital burden, while Electra absorbs the sites into a network it is already growing.

The 10,000-charger target is now a partnership question

The Mercedes-Benz Charging Network launched just three years ago with a goal of more than 10,000 fast chargers globally by the end of the decade. The sources do not say whether that global target survives the European sale, or whether it will now be met largely through partners rather than Mercedes-owned sites; that has not been announced.

What is clear is the hardware standard the network had reached. Mercedes used high-powered equipment from Alpitronic, with most sites carrying 400-kilowatt dispensers, and earlier this year the first 1,000-kilowatt-capable stalls were installed at charging parks in Europe and North America.

That matters because the chargers being handed over are not legacy kit. Electra is inheriting some of the fastest hardware in Europe, which makes the sale a transfer of capable infrastructure rather than a retreat from fast charging itself.

North America is unaffected

Mercedes-Benz's US fast-charging business is untouched by the European sale. Its High-Power Charging network in the United States has 748 charging ports at 80 locations, according to the Department of Energy's Alternative Fuels Data Center, with a further 62 ports at eight stations in Canada.

So the company is not leaving charging altogether. It is narrowing its role in one market, Europe, where Ionity and now Electra give it partner access, while keeping its own network running across the Atlantic.

The Vatican is showing eight Mercedes-Benz vehicles built for popes over nine decades in an exhibition titled "Mercedes-Benz: A Century of Popemobiles," which opened in a glass pavilion near the Vatican's Pinacoteca, or Picture Gallery. It runs until January 31, 2027.

The cars trace the shift from conventional papal limousines to the purpose-built, glass-enclosed Popemobiles most people picture today, a relationship between the automaker and the Holy See that dates to 1930.

From a silk-brocade limousine to a transparent dome

The earliest vehicle on display is the Nürburg 460 (W 08) Pullman limousine from 1930, the car that began the relationship between Mercedes-Benz and the Vatican. It was powered by a 4.6-liter inline-eight and modified extensively inside for Pope Pius XI, with an individual seat upholstered in fine silk brocade, selected wood and metal finishes, and a decorated headliner.

The 1960 300 d Landaulet (W 189) built for Pope John XXIII had a longer wheelbase than the standard car and rear side windows that could be removed entirely for public appearances. Opening the rear doors automatically deployed entry steps, and the Pope's central seat was electrically adjustable, with climate and radio controls reachable from the rear compartment.

Pope Paul VI received a 600 Pullman Landaulet (W 100) in autumn 1965, modified with wider rear doors, a raised roof over the rear compartment, a specially designed adjustable papal seat, a cooling system and an intercom to the driver. The 300 SEL Pullman (W 109) that followed in 1967 had wheelbases stretched by 25.6 inches and larger rear doors, though these six-seat limousines were mainly used for senior Vatican guests rather than the Pope.

The dome arrives, and armour follows

The 230 G built for Pope John Paul II's 1980 visit to Germany introduced the concept that defined the Popemobile: a tall transparent dome over the rear compartment to shield the Pope from the weather while keeping him visible. Based on the long-wheelbase G-Class, it wore pearl-white paint, gold-coloured trim and a white interior, with climate control and rear lighting adapted to its role.

After the 1981 assassination attempt on the Pope, Mercedes-Benz built a second, near-identical vehicle on the 230 GE with armoured protection. That decision is the clearest illustration of what the Popemobile became: a vehicle designed around visibility for the crowd and protection for the passenger at the same time.

A more traditional S 500 Long Landaulet (Series 140) followed in 1997, with an electrohydraulic convertible roof and a spacious individual rear seat. In 2002 the G-Class formula moved to the M-Class with the ML 430, whose transparent dome was more smoothly integrated into the bodywork and surrounded by large windows; John Paul II first used it at World Youth Day in Toronto that year. The final car listed is the ML 500 (W 166) delivered in December 2012 for Pope Benedict XVI, which enlarged the glass enclosure to make entry and exit easier and give onlookers a better view, with a revised rear lighting concept.

What the exhibition does and does not say

The exhibition is housed in a glass pavilion near the Pinacoteca and presents the eight vehicles as a sequence showing how papal transport evolved. The sources do not give ticket prices or opening hours for the display, so visitors should check before planning a trip.

Nor do the sources say who owns the cars on show, whether the Vatican, Mercedes-Benz or a mix of both, so that detail has not been announced. What is clear is the scale of the partnership behind them: Mercedes-Benz has supplied the Holy See with both official and utility vehicles since 1930.