Mercedes Benz has invested more than 200 million euros in the Electric Software Hub at the Mercedes Technology Centre (MTC) in Sindelfingen to accelerate development in electric driving and vehicle software. As a result, numerous software, hardware, system integration and testing functions are brought together under one roof. With this step, Mercedes-Benz is intensifying its approach of cross-functional collaboration.
From 2025, all new vehicle architectures will be exclusively electric. Mercedes-Benz takes a holistic approach concerning vehicle software, ranging from basic research and development to software coding. Around 1,000 new jobs are currently being created for software developers in Sindelfingen alone. Up to 2,000 more jobs are currently being added in the global R&D network. The Electric Software Hub brings together the two key strategic topics for the future of Mercedes-Benz. It strengthens the role of the Sindelfingen site as a major development and qualification hub. To this end, the company has invested over 200 million euros.
"The Electric Software Hub is an epicentre of our research and development and at the same time closely networked with the worldwide production sites. This is where key aspects of the future of Mercedes-Benz become reality - especially our own MB.OS operating system. Cars are among the most complex products in general. The hardware and software are decoupled and must work together perfectly. We ensure this in the Electric Software Hub. It is our software integration factory."
Said Markus Schäfer - Chief Technology Officer responsible for Development and Procurement.
With increasing digitisation, the control units in the vehicle are taking on ever more complex tasks - from infotainment and driving assistance systems to the electric drive. The integration of all components is thus increasing in importance. This process is highly complex. This is all the more true as vehicle development is no longer finished at a certain point. Cars in customer hands also receive continuous software updates with new and improved functions. The Electric Software Hub offers decisive advantages in this new vehicle world: Some 1,100 experts from 19 cross-functional departments work together in closer physical proximity than ever before. Together with the expansion of digital testing procedures, this increases both the pace and the quality of the integration processes. The intensive interlinking of the disciplines in one building makes the Electric Software Hub exceptional. It stands for simultaneous engineering and seamless integration at its best.
The new building has 70,000 square metres of space spread over eight levels. The inside of the Electric Software Hub reflects the entire electrics/electronics integration process of vehicle development. The employees ensure that all hardware and software components created in research and development work perfectly and interact seamlessly. From top to bottom - from code to product - software and hardware enter further and further into the vehicle until they are integrated into vehicle prototypes in the lower spaces. There is an in-depth exchange with the vehicle plants worldwide during this phase so that new developments can be optimally transferred to series production.
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