Manufacturers reveal prototypes early on in a vehicle’s production journey to drum up interest and start building the suspense. It’s fair to say Mercedes-Benz have successfully caught our attention with the prototype of their ‘Vision EQXX’ which they claim will have the longest electric range and highest efficiency of any battery-powered vehicle ever built. Tesla - that includes you.
Details are extremely thin on the ground at the moment which suggests the vehicle is still a fair way off being produced, but during a Mercedes strategy update, a slide asked the question ”Beijing to Shanghai in one charge?” which immediately implies a range of at least 750 miles is being set as the benchmark, which is over 300 miles more than you can currently get out of a Tesla Model S.
Engineers from the project, which is codenamed ‘Project Vision EQXX’, suggest that aerodynamic efficiency will be the key to achieving such a high maximum electric range, rather than just increasing the size of the battery and in turn increasing the overall weight of the vehicle.
The Vision EQXX is expected to be a one-off prototype which will demonstrate the power and knowledge of the Mercedes-Benz production team, but the lessons learned from EQXX will be used across the Mercedes-Benz ‘EQ’ range of electric vehicles. This range will be expanded by six new vehicles in 2021.
The first model built on the new EQ architecture will be the EQS, which as the name suggests is an all-electric member of the S-Class range. This is due to go on sale in 2021 and will set the bar for electric luxury vehicles. Following this, there will also be a new EQE business saloon introduced, which you may have guessed is part of the E Class family.
Interestingly both the EQE and the EQS will also be made available with SUV alternatives. These models will likely use the same underpinnings and infrastructure as the saloon models while offering a better riding position and - we would imagine - a more comfortable driving experience.
These two models have already begun their testing periods, where they’ll be put under massive amounts of stress to see how they react to intense usage.
Christoph Starzynski, Vice President of Electric Vehicle Architecture at Mercedes’ EQ division, said: "The EQS has already piled up far more than two million test kilometres from the heat of South Africa to the cold of Northern Sweden",
"The EQS will be the S-Class of electric vehicles. That is why it is undergoing the same demanding development program as any other vehicle that has the privilege of proudly bearing the three-pointed star. In addition, there were quite a few tests specifically for electric cars that cover important development priorities such as range, charging and efficiency".
It looks like the big aspirations of Mercedes Benz are coming to fruition at a rapid rate and it won’t be long before these vehicles are making their way on to our roads and encouraging mass adoption of EVs in the UK. Would you consider one of these Mercedes EVs in the near future? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!