For Mercedes-Benz customers who opt for an all-electric or plug-in hybrid (PHEV) vehicle, the smartphone app Mercedes me Eco Coach offers the support of a personal trainer for environmentally conscious driving. So far, the app is providing more than 50,000 users with helpful and fun advice on the best way to make the most of an electric drive. Of those downloads, more than 24,000 are by users in Germany.
The carmaker is celebrating this milestone by offering vouchers for its Mercedes me Charge service, which are available as prizes in the integrated bonus scheme with a 50 percent discount. Users can collect points in the app by successfully mastering an array of challenges – for instance, by achieving the highest possible proportion of electric driving or by charging for several days in a row. There is also the opportunity to participate as part of the Eco Coach community in fun competitions which change every month. Users can exchange the points they collect for prizes. The initiative is aimed at app users in Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark. Discounted charging vouchers are available from now until 31 October 2022 inclusive, and valid for two years from issue.
“With Eco Coach, customers of our all-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids can get to know their car better, increase the efficiency of their driving style and thus protect the environment,” says Markus Schäfer, Member of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG, Chief Technology Officer, responsible for Development and Purchasing. “With its gamification approach, the free app shows that resource-saving driving can be really fun.”
Significantly improved driving style and charging habits
The Eco Coach is designed to make the transition to electric mobility easier for Mercedes-Benz customers, to provide them with information and to motivate them through its gamification elements. And it’s proving successful. Users of the Mercedes me Eco Coach driving the brand’s PHEVs achieve a proportion of electric drive averaging 58 percent. Analysis from the anonymized backend of the Eco Coach app show that this is 22 percent more than those PHEV drivers who do not use the Eco Coach. Drivers of all-electric vehicles are also turning in an excellent performance. Their average state of charge (SoC) after a charging session is 79 percent – which is just one percentage point lower than the figure of 80 percent recommended by Mercedes‑Benz for the longest possible battery life.
New app users also benefit from the voucher promotion
It’s not just registered Mercedes me Eco Coach users who benefit from the 50-percent discounted charging vouchers. Even those currently downloading the app for the first time can profit. It would be no problem, for instance, to collect the points necessary for a five-euro charging voucher in the first month of use. All it takes is the successful completion of two community and two individual challenges. The app can be downloaded free of charge from the App Store and Google Play. The functions are available for all Mercedes-Benz model ranges equipped with the COMAND Online infotainment system, version NTG 5.5 and above.
