Mercedes-Benz has taken the Vision EQXX on a European road trip, demonstrating that the EV can cover more than 1,000km on a single charge.
Travelling from Sindelfingen in Germany across the Swiss Alps and Northern Italy, to its destination of Cassis on the Côte d'Azur in France, the one-day trip showed what is electrically “feasible”.
On arrival in Cassis, the battery’s state of charge stood at around 15% amounting to a remaining range of around 140km.
The average consumption was a record-breaking low of 8.7kWh per 100km.
The journey began in cold rainy conditions and was undertaken at regular road speeds, but also included prolonged fast-lane cruising at up to 140 km/h on the German autobahn.
An expert from certification body TÜV Süd accompanied the driver on the trip to officially confirm this and to ensure the drive was completed with the charging socket sealed.
Ola Källenius, chairman of the board of management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG said on completion of the task: “We did it! Powering through more than 1,000 kilometres with ease on a single battery charge and a consumption of only 8.7 kWh/100 km in real-world traffic conditions. The VISION EQXX is the most efficient Mercedes ever built. The technology programme behind it marks a milestone in the development of electric vehicles. It underpins our strategic aim to ‘Lead in Electric’.”
During the trip, the Vision EQXX got a “hearty energy snack” in the Po Valley near Milan from its fixed solar roof. The 177 solar cells fed the 12-volt battery, boosting the overall range by more than 2%. This added up to 25 km to the journey.
The drag coefficient of 0.17 also had a particularly positive effect on fuel consumption at high speeds on the motorway.
The VISION EQXX is the product of a holistic approach with innovations in different technical areas that have an impact on energy consumption.
“With our successful road trip to the South of France, we’ve shown that efficiency is the new currency,” said Markus Schäfer, member of the board of management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG and chief technology officer responsible for Development and Purchasing.
“And this success also clearly speaks for our new collaborative development process, incorporating many learnings from the Mercedes-AMG F1 team and its cutting-edge expertise in electric powertrains. The VISION EQXX is the result of a comprehensive programme that provides a blueprint for the future of automotive engineering. Many of the innovative developments are already being integrated into production, some of them in the next generation of modular architecture for compact and midsize Mercedes‑Benz vehicles. With the VISION EQXX, we will keep testing the limits of what’s possible.”