Mercedes announced this week that it will unveil its most efficient electric vehicle in the first few days of the New Year, with the Vision EQXX set to be unveiled on January 3.
In an online “tease” ahead of the official release, Mercedes-Benz said the Vision EQXX four-door concept will feature lightweight engineering and sustainable materials and “a barrage of intelligent efficiency measures”, including advanced software.
It’s worth asking, of course, whether any claim by Mercedes-Benz of a “most efficient ever” EV stacks up against the competition.
Looking through the five EVs that Mercedes sells or has announced, energy consumption/efficiency fluctuates somewhat depending on vehicle and testing: 16.2kWh/100km for the EQA, 20.9kWh/100km for the EQC, between 19.8-15.6kWh/100km for the EQS, between 19.4-18.1kWh/100km for the EQB, and between 19.3-15.7kWh/100km for the EQE.
For comparison, the Tesla Model 3 and Hyundai Ioniq Electric, the two current most energy-efficient EVs, boast fuel efficiency figures of 15 and 15.3kWh/100km.
One would hope, then, that the new EQXX would be able to compete with figures produced by the Tesla Model 3 and Hyundai Ioniq, and that the “barrage of intelligent efficiency measures” being introduced with the EQXX will also be able to be used to increase the efficiency of Mercedes’ other EV models.
More details of the Vision EQXX unveiling are available here, and the live premiere will be streamed on https://media.mercedes-benz.com/vision_eqxx on Monday 3 January 2022 at 6.00 pm (CET).
Joshua S. Hill is a Melbourne-based journalist who has been writing about climate change, clean technology, and electric vehicles for over 15 years. He has been reporting on electric vehicles and clean technologies for Renew Economy and The Driven since 2012. His preferred mode of transport is his feet.