EQ app puts Mercedes EVs to virtual test
BY RON HAMMERTON | 30th Aug 2018
MERCEDES-BENZ is warming up potential customers for its upcoming EQ electric vehicle range in Australia and New Zealand by releasing a phone app that can allow them to track their car journeys to work out if it makes sense for them to switch to an all-electric or hybrid vehicle.
The announcement of the EQ Ready app comes only days before the German car-maker unveils the first of its potentially ground-breaking EQ range, the EQC, at an event in Sweden on Tuesday (Wednesday 2.30am AEST).
The SUV is expected to have a scalable battery of up to 70kWh providing a range of about 500km and acceleration performance equivalent to a six-cylinder turbo Mercedes-AMG sports sedan.
The EQC will go on public show at the Paris motor show in early October before going into production in 2019 for global markets, including Australia.
It will go head-to-head with current EVs such as the Tesla Model X and Jaguar I-Pace, as well as Audi’s new e-tron that will be outed later this month.
The EQC will be just the first of a range of EQ models, with the smaller EQA expected to follow next. A concept for EQA was shown a year ago at the Frankfurt motor, which potentially means the production version might land at next year’s show.
With the new app that can be downloaded free for iOS and Android smartphones, Mercedes hopes to prove that its electrified vehicles can meet the needs of most motorists, dispelling issues such as range anxiety.
“This makes it possible to try out e-mobility in a virtual yet realistic way,” the company says.
The app requires participants to open a Mercedes me online account and then register the app which, of course, gives Mercedes access to test data.
The brand or type of car driven by the participant does not matter, as the app is focused on recording journey details, even including data such as temperature, altitude and driving breaks.
Those details are transferred by WiFi or phone connection to the Mercedes me website for comparison with EQ or hybrid vehicle performances over a similar route to determine if an EV or hybrid would have been suitable.
For privacy reasons, the app can be switched off for any journey that the participant does not want recorded.
The system has been trialled in Europe, with Mercedes parent company Daimler’s board members among the guinea pigs.
Daimler head of strategy Wilko Stark said the general conclusion of those using the app is that electric cars and hybrids in e-mode are much more suitable for everyday use than most people believe.
“Following their personal reality check with our app, even sceptics discover that an electric car or hybrid would satisfy their mobility needs,” he said.
The app was the brainchild of Mercedes’ future technology unit, CASE, which stands for Connected, Autonomous, Shared /Services and Electric.
