The new Mercedes Vision EQXX concept car will debut Jan. 3, with the public getting a closer look at it during the Consumer Electronics Show opening later that week.
The EQXX, which Mercedes first teased last summer, could prove to be a real game changer for the nascent battery-electric market, the automaker confirming the prototype will yield as much as 1,000 kilometers, or more than 600 miles, per charge. A production version is already set to follow.
Though Mercedes isn’t revealing much about the EQXX ahead of the digital review, it noted the concept vehicle will use 10 kilowatt-hours of energy to travel 100 miles — or better than 6 miles per kWh. That would make it substantially more efficient than even the new Lucid Air Dream Range model when it comes to squeezing out the most range with the fewest number of batteries.
Taking things the extra mile
Think of that in terms of the electric vehicle equivalent of fuel economy. The new GMC Hummer EV can travel barely 1.5 miles per kilowatt-hour, with products like the Ford Mustang Mach-E and Volkswagen ID.4 getting between 2 and 3.5 miles per kWh. The most efficient Tesla, the Model S Long Range Edition, comes in just over 4 miles, and the most efficient Lucid Air delivers around 5 miles per kWh.
While we think about BEVs as “zero emissions,” they do require electric current that might be produced through wind or solar power — or from burning coal or natural gas. So, efficiency means fewer emissions, as well as a lower energy bill for consumers.
The automaker isn’t saying much, just noting the EQXX “is part of a far-reaching Mercedes-Benz technology program aimed at breaking through technological barriers and lifting energy efficiency to new heights. It demonstrates the gains that are possible through rethinking the fundamentals from the ground up.”
How it works
Aerodynamics are clearly part of the equation, as the teaser images emphasize. That said, the new Mercedes-Benz EQS sedan has, at 0.20 Cd, the lowest drag coefficient of any production vehicle on the market. So, it’s unclear how much further the automaker’s design team could go with EQXX.
Other steps, said Mercedes in a statement, include “advances across all elements of its cutting-edge electric drivetrain as well as the use of lightweight engineering and sustainable materials. Complete with a barrage of intelligent efficiency measures, including advanced software, Vision EQXX allows Mercedes-Benz to explore new frontiers of efficiency.”
It’s also safety to assume the EQXX electrical system operates at 800 volts or above, and uses the latest in silicon carbide chips.
Positioning itself as a leader
The goal is to position Mercedes as the leader in electrification, said Markus Schäfer, the COO of Daimler Group Research and Mercedes-Benz Cars. The numbers being quoted for the EQXX could ease some of the criticism the automaker got for the EQS which offers a solid, but certainly not benchmark, range of up to 350 miles per charge.
Of course, the question is whether the production version of the prototype will match, or at least come close. And there will be plenty of other questions, such as the power the EQXX makes and how long it will take to charge its batteries. Based on the range and efficiency number Mercedes is quoting, the battery pack should come in at around 100 kWh.
We’ll find out more Jan. 3 at noon, when the EQXX makes its virtual debut on the Mercedes me media online platform. It will be shown off in the sheet metal at CES, starting Jan. 5 in Las Vegas.