The concept car uses less than 10 kWh of electrical energy to travel 100 km. When translated into fossil-fuel consumption, this is around 1 litre per 100 km.
Mercedes-Benz has unveiled an electric concept car, Vision EQXX, which it says will be capable of exceeding a range of 1,000 km on a single charge.
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The German automaker said it plans to take the range and efficiency of electric vehicles (EV) to a new level that will make them suitable for every journey.
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“The Mercedes-Benz VISION EQXX is how we imagine the future of electric cars,” Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Kallenius said.
The concept car uses less than 10 kWh of electrical energy to travel 100 km. When translated into fossil-fuel consumption, this is around 1 litre per 100 km, Mercedes noted. Tesla’s Model S 60 consumes 18.1 kWh per 100 km, which equates to about 2 litre per 100 km in fossil-fuel consumption, according to the company.
Vision EQXX’s battery pack holds almost 100 kWh of energy, with an energy density of close to 400 Wh/l, and weighs around 495 kg. It has 50% less volume and is 30% lighter than the battery pack in the automaker’s EQS electric sedan.
In addition to the battery, the electric system that powers many of the ancillaries in the prototype draws extra energy from 117 solar cells on the roof. This can add up to 25 km of range, according to Mercedes.
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The concept car was developed by Mercedes’ R&D centres together with engineers from its Formula 1 and Formula E programmes. The development process, which took about 18 months, included advances across all elements of its electric drivetrain as well as the use of lightweight engineering, resulting in a vehicle that weighs around 1,750 kg.
The Vision EQXX’s 1,000 km range means it can be used to travel from Berlin to Paris on a single charge. During recent testing, the automaker’s EQS 450+ electric sedan completed nearly 680 km on one charge. Then there are other EVs available in the market from companies like Lucid and Tesla with ranges up to 840 km and 650 km respectively.
Last year, Mercedes announced that it will go all-electric by 2030. The carmaker said it will have battery EVs in all segments by 2022, and from 2025 onwards, all newly launched vehicle architectures will be electric-only. Additionally, it committed about $47 billion in investments into EVs between 2022 and 2030.
