Mercedes-Benz Vision EQXX
Range anxiety? Mercedes is looking to make that a thing of the past.
Many reluctant converts to electric cars worry that they’ll run out of ‘juice’ halfway to their destination, necessitating a long (and often expensive) recharge at an often uninspiring motorway service station. Of course, the reality of this situation nowadays is that this is wholly unlikely - with the average EV on the market in 2021 offering an average range of 193 miles.
For your average UK driver, taking on the daily commutes and longer one-off journeys, you’re still unlikely to hit that. 190 miles at 70mph is more than two and a half hours of driving. However, there will likely be journeys where you’ll face such a total (family trips to Cornwall, or Scotland, anyone?)
That’s where Mercedes-Benz comes in. Of course, many countries have longer average drives than we have in the UK, and more considerable distances to stretch before you literally drive end to end (at around 600 miles, you could drive from the top of Scotland to the most Southern tip of the UK with only two top-up charges in cars with a 200-mile range capacity). With these long drives usually comes negative environmental output from our petrol and diesel vehicles, but anyone who's making the switch to electric will be helping us work towards a greener future with their choice! Some vehicles are of course worse than others and you don't need to switch entirely away from your beloved petrol, see our blog and you can compare The Best and Worst Vehicles for the Environment.
An EV with a 1000km range
The Vision EQXX is the model to eliminate range anxiety. When it launches in 2022, this new all-electric aims to be the world’s most efficient EV when it launches, tackling a target range of more than 620 miles - or a drive from Paris to Monte Carlo on one single charge. Mercedes are talking “a single-digit figure for kWh per 100 kilometres”, which would mean averaging more than 6 miles per kWh (at motorway speeds). For reference, the super-efficient Audi e-tron manages 2 miles per kWh, and the Tesla Model 3 manages about 4.
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Mercedes claim that the lessons learnt in developing the EQXX will better the performance of all EV models across the brand for the future. That’s serious, when Mercedes as a brand have committed to electrification. From 2022 every segment will have a fully electric model on offer, whilst from 2025, every model sold will be offered in an EV alternative, too. For a long-term renowned brand in the Internal Combustion Engine market, this illustrates how serious the car manufacturing industry is getting about a transition into electric.
Mercedes are keen to stress, too, that this extra range doesn’t only come from carrying a larger battery. No. The unit used in the EQXX will appear in a “future compact model”.
Another good bonus for any EV driver is that the Tesla Supercharger Network is Opening Up To All EVs, which means you'll be able to charge vehicles such as the EQXX at a Tesla charging station!
The Vision EQXX
Mercedes' vision suggests a car which is “a symbol of our ambition to create the most efficient car” possible. The previews suggest that the EQXX will have a very futuristic, streamlined design - perhaps offering us aesthetic clues about the direction Mercedes are taking for the future.
EVs from Mercedes Benz
The brand also announced recently their commitment to building eight new battery factories worldwide, to face the increasing need for this technology. Four of these factories are due to be built in Europe. They also state that investment in ICE (internal combustion) engines will fall by 80% by 2026 (based on 2019 levels).
