Mercedes-Benz VISION EQXX Research Car Co-Drive: Record-Setting EV Range

While many people have referred to the VISION EQXX as a concept car, those people do not work at Mercedes-Benz. The company insists on calling it a research vehicle, because it concentrates experimental projects from many areas of research into a single, practical EV for the express purpose of testing the results in real-world scenarios. During the VISION EQXX technological briefings on the day of our co-drive, Jasmin Eichler, Director of Future Technologies for Mercedes-Benz AG, said the best of those lessons will be used in all Mercedes series vehicles.

Eichler says the point of the VISION EQXX’s 1,000 km road trip was not simply to finish the drive on a single charge. For that, she says, they could have simply put a bunch of extra batteries in the roof to extend the range. Instead, Mercedes-Benz set out to make the most efficient EV yet by bringing together research innovations in the electric powertrain, battery, aerodynamics, lightweight body construction, infotainment and computing, and sustainable interior materials.

When Mercedes-Benz revealed the VISION EQXX in January, the car had been in development for 18 months at that point, and Eichler said they were not sure it would complete the 1,000 km trek on one charge. Since then, the team removed another 88 pounds from the car, bringing its unladen weight down to 3,869 pounds. In the end, by the time the VISION EQXX arrived in Cassis after 1,008 km, its battery was 15% charged, potentially allowing another 140 km (87 mile) range. It had averaged just 8.7 kHw per 100 km driven.