Mercedes-Benz Vision EQXX unveiled at CES

MERCEDES-BENZ has taken the covers off an all-electric and solar-assisted concept EV dubbed Vision EQXX at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas overnight. 

The model, which can travel over 1000km on a single charge, offers an impossibly low drag coefficient of just 0.173Cd and is tipped to rival the likes of Audi’s E-tron GT and Porsche’s Taycan should it enter production.

The Vision EQXX is claimed to use just 10kW/h per 100km – equal to running a household air-conditioner for three hours – which Mercedes-Benz says rivals the ICE equivalent of 1.0 litres per 100km. 

“The Mercedes-Benz Vision EQXX is how we imagine the future of electric cars. Just one-and-a-half years ago, we started this project leading to the most efficient Mercedes-Benz ever built – with an outstanding energy consumption of less than 10kW/h per 100 kilometres,” Daimler and Mercedes-Benz AG chairman Ola Källenius said.

“It has a range of more than 1000 kilometres on a single charge using a battery that would fit even into a compact vehicle. The Vision EQXX is an advanced car in so many dimensions – and it even looks stunning and futuristic. With that, it underlines where our entire company is headed: We will build the world’s most desirable electric cars,” he added. 

The ultra-long-range EV is powered by a 150kW electric motor set on the rear axle which draws power from a 100kW/h battery back set beneath the passenger cabin.The system is able to be topped up by a series of 117 solar cells set in the vehicle’s roof. 

Mercedes-Benz says the battery pack of the Vision EQXX is 50 per cent smaller and 30 per cent lighter than the comparable battery in its EQS and that the solar cells can contribute an additional driving range of 25km per day.

Conventional charging is handled via a 900-volt high-speed plug and with over 1000km of range, Mercedes-Benz says most buyers would only need to charge their Vision EQXX once a month. The vehicle can travel up to 300km on just 15 minutes charge time, Mercedes-Benz says.

Tipping the scale at 1750kg the Vision EQXX is no lightweight, but with a slippery teardrop shape, Kammback style rear-end and aero-optimised 20-inch forged magnesium alloy wheels shod with low rolling resistance it is incredibly aerodynamically efficient. 

The “road-legal research prototype” has a rear wheel track that is 50mm narrower than the front, further reducing drag, while the use of dynamic cooling shutters and a retractable rear diffuser help make the Vision EQXX as slippery as possible at cruising speeds.

The company has yet to provide any performance figures for its road-going concept but says that up to 95 per cent of the energy drawn from the battery ends up at the wheels, making the Vision EQXX one of the most energy efficient cars ever produced. By way of reference, the most energy efficient ICE powered vehicle converts only 30 per cent of the potential energy in petrol to motive power.

Daimler and Mercedes-Benz AG chief technology officer of development and procurement, Markus Schäfer, said the technology program behind the Vision EQXX “will define and enable future Mercedes-Benz models and features.”

“As a halo car, the Vision EQXX firmly establishes Mercedes-Benz as the brand that pairs luxury with technology in the automotive world and beyond. And the way we developed it is as revolutionary as the vehicle itself. 

“Vision EQXX has seen the best minds from our R&D centres work together with engineers from our Formula 1 and Formula E programs. They are proving that innovations from motorsport – where powertrains are already highly electrified – have immediate relevance for road car development.

“We are challenging current development processes with innovative spirit and outside-the-box thinking. This truly is the way forward.”

Inside, the cabin is clad in a variety of sustainable materials – including those derived from mushrooms, PET bottles and even vegan silk – and boasts a single-piece curved high-resolution screen (8K) that stretches across the width of the dashboard. 

Mercedes-Benz says it is collaborating with NAVIS Automotive Systems to develop a real-time 3D navigation system for the widescreen array that will offer “seamless zoom and scroll functions from satellite view down to a height of 10 metres”.

The German car maker has confirmed that many of the features and technologies exhibited in the Vision EQXX will make their way into its production models within the next two to three years.