Mercedes reveals all-electric SUV. Mercedes-Benz has pulled the wraps of its first full electric car – a large SUV that will target Tesla’s Model X and the Jaguar i-PACE.
It has an 80kWh lithium-ion battery providing a 280-mile range, and two powerful motors for rapid acceleration and all-wheel drive traction.
As Mercedes-Benz’s first EQ ‘Electric Intelligence’ model, the EQC is also the firm’s first fully electric SUV – and the first fruits of its multibillion- pound investment in the EQ line, which is its luxury electric vehicle line-up. It is due to go on sale in summer 2019.
“It is a genuine Mercedes-Benz,” said Ola Kallenius, board member for R&D and Product Development. “It has classic attributes such as quality, safety and comfort”.
But the EQC also has “dynamic performance”, thanks to two electric motors at the front and rear axles, with a combined output of over 400bhp , 564lb ft of torque and an ‘intelligent operating strategy’ to optimise its electric range”.
The EQC can be charged via conventional mains electricity and fast-charging networks, while owners will also get a Mercedes-Benz ‘Wallbox’, which will charge the car three times faster than a conventional fast-charging device.
“With the EQC – the first fully electric SUV from Mercedes-Benz – we are flipping the switch,” said the firm’s charismatic chairman and CEO Dieter Zetsche. “Electric drive is a major component in the mobility of the future.
“We are thereforeinvesting more than ten billion euros in the expansion of our EQ model portfolio, and more than one billion euros in global battery production.”
