Why eSprinter hasn't come to U.S.

The Mercedes-Benz eSprinter has attracted the interest of commerce giants in Europe such as Amazon. But the electric delivery van will not be available in the U.S., for now — putting the company behind rivals such as upstart Rivian and Ford's planned Transit EV.

Mercedes has decided not to offer the eSprinter in the U.S. because safety specifications and other performance requirements cannot be sufficiently met.

"The components for the electric drive system do not meet Daimler's internal standards for crash tests that go beyond legal requirements," a source told Germany's Automobilwoche, a sibling publication of Automotive News.

The cost of adapting the van for America would be so expensive that Daimler is initially foregoing it.

Mercedes has been selling the all-electric eSprinter delivery van for about six months in Europe.

Interest from logistics providers is strong. At the end of August, Mercedes booked a major order from Amazon for some 1,800 electric vans.

The U.S. has different requirements for a large electric van, notably range and battery size.

Even with a bigger battery, the eSprinter only has a range of 170 kilometers — or 106 miles — often sufficient for a day trip in a European city.

However, driving distances in some U.S. urban areas are much longer.

"As communicated in the context of the market launch of the eSprinter 2019, we have initially focused on the European region when developing the vehicle.

"Accordingly, the performance requirements of the vehicle are tailored to the needs of customers in Europe," a Mercedes spokesperson said.

Daimler also emphasized that "differing safety requirements were not decisive for the strategy of initially focusing on Europe."

In the long run, however, Mercedes cannot ignore the U.S.

"We are constantly observing market developments and are in close contact with our customers in order to adapt our product portfolio to the needs of other markets," the spokesperson added.

Daimler is working to further develop the eSprinter so it can be assembled and sold in the U.S. Daimler opened a plant to build the Sprinter in Charleston, S.C., two years ago.

Amazon has ordered 100,000 electric vans from Rivian, which are to be delivered by 2030. Rivian set up a production facility in Normal, Ill., supported by funds from Amazon.