Mercedes-Benz COO Markus Schäfer has confirmed the landmark Vision EQXX concept car will make its debut on 3 January, setting the technical tone for the marque’s next-generation production EVs.
Described as “a symbol of our ambition to create the most efficient car”, the EQXX has been previewed as a futuristic and heavily streamlined design study that could offer heavy clues as to what to expect from future production cars.
Mercedes has confirmed that it is targeting a real-world range of more than 1,000km’s, and a consumption rating of more than six miles per kWh. Previously, it suggested the ‘compact-class’ EQXX would have the “longest electric range” and “highest efficiency” of any EV yet produced.
The headline claim made of the prototype at a strategy conference last year was that it will be capable of travelling from Beijing to Shanghai – a distance of 1,200km’s – on a single charge. Mercedes is keen to emphasise that the range has not been achieved simply by using a larger battery pack, and that the unit used in the EQXX will appear in a “future compact model”.
The EQXX development team includes “experts from Mercedes-Benz’s F1 High Performance Powertrain division (HPP)”, hinting at the concept’s top-rung performance potential.
Confirming the reveal date, Schäfer said: “Today, we at Mercedes-Benz – as well as the entire automotive industry – must completely reimagine the car in the context of electromobility. The automobile as we have come to know it till now has been the product of 130 years of continuous development. What we have achieved so far has been amazing, but progress with electric cars must move faster – much faster.”
He added that it is “more than a show car”, hinting at the production applications of the technology and features it will showcase. The cell density of its battery pack, for example, is increased 20% over that of the EQS, and it is set to improve upon that car’s once-record-breaking drag coefficient of 0.20Cd.
Mercedes recently made a number of headline announcements regarding its accelerated transition to electrification. From 2022, it will offer a fully electric model in every segment, and from 2025 every model sold will be offered with a pure-electric model. Also in 2025, Mercedes will launch three bespoke new EV architectures for use across its entire product portfolio: MB.EA for mid-sized and large passenger cars, AMG.EA for performance models and Van.EA for commercial vehicles.
Among the headline announcements was a commitment to building eight new battery factories worldwide and that investment in combustion engines will fall by 80% by 2026, compared to 2019 levels.
Felix Page