Mercedes-Benz Vision EQXX drives 1,000km on a single charge

Delivering on a promise it made nearly a year ago, German luxury automotive brand Mercedes-Benz has this week revealed that its Vision EQXX four-door concept successfully completed a picturesque European journey of over 1,000-kilometres on a single battery charge.

Mercedes-Benz unveiled its plans for the high-performance Vision EQXX back in the middle of 2021 ahead of a 2022 world premiere, promising that the vehicle would have a “real world range of more than 1,000km” and would target a single-digit figure for kWh per 100 kilometres at normal highway driving speeds.

We got a glimpse of the EQXX in late December ahead of its January unveiling, and this week Mercedes-Benz revealed that, in a journey from Sindelfingen in Germany, travelling across the Swiss Alps and Northern Italy, down to its destination of Cassis on the Côte d’Azur (French Riviera), the EQXX covered over 1,000-kilometres on a single battery charge.

According to Mercedes-Benz, the Vision EQXX undertook the journey starting in cold and rainy conditions and travelled a variety of road conditions at regular road speeds, encountered globally ubiquitous roadworks, and travelled at prolonged fast-lane cruising of up to 140km/h on the German autobahn and near the speed limit elsewhere.

Upon arrival on the Côte d’Azur, the Vision EQXX’s battery state of charge was around 15%, amounting to a remaining range of around 140-kilometres, concluding its drive with an average consumption of a record-breaking 8.7kWh per 100-kilometres.

“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” said Ola Källenius, chairman of the board of management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG.

“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’.”

Lest anyone consider Mercedes-Benz has fudged its claims, the Vision EQXX undertook the drive with the charging socket sealed and accompanied by an independent expert from certification body TÜV Süd.

The over 1,000-kilometre journey took a little over 12 hours, or 11.5 hours of driving time, and was assisted in its journey by its regenerative brakes, which are able to recoup energy on any type of gradient and during every braking manoeuvre.

Other energy efficiency gains were made thanks to the vehicle’s increased aerodynamics, tyres with an extremely low rolling-resistance rating of 4.7, and a “carefully thought-through lightweight construction” that boasts an unladen weight of only 1,755-kilograms.

“With our successful road trip to the South of France, we’ve shown that efficiency is the new currency,” said Markus Schäfer, a member of the board of management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG.

“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.”