AUTO

Mercedes VISION EQXX Goes Over 600 Miles on Single Charge

April 18, 2022

The ultra-efficient, aerodynamically styled Mercedes-Benz VISION EQXX electric concept car proved it was more than a visual work of art— it’s slippery body helped it go more than 1000 km (620+ miles) on a single battery charge!

Last month, a team of Mercedes-Benz drivers put the VISION EQXX concept to the test, traveling from Sindelfingen in Germany, across the Swiss Alps, through Northern Italy, and finally to its destination of Cassis on the Côte d’Azur on the French coast. The car “effortlessly” covered more than 1,000 km (621 miles) in real-world traffic and weather conditions, on a single battery charge.

“We did it! Powering through more than 1,000 kilometers with ease on a single battery charge and a consumption of only 8.7 kWh/100 km (7.1 kWh per 62 miles) in real-world traffic conditions,” says 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 program behind it marks a milestone in the development of electric vehicles. It underpins our strategic aim to ‘Lead in Electric’.”

Mercedes-Benz VISION EQXX Driver Team

Mercedes understands that there’s a reason why road trips have been a cultural touchstone across the world. They appear in books, movies, and music, and defined freedom and individuality for generations of people who would, “stick a pin in the map— and drive.”

And drive they did! The route Mercedes’ team took brought them from motorway to mountain pass, through construction, and in varied the weather conditions. All of these variable presented the VISION EQXX with the same familiar challenges drivers face every day— and the car handled them just fine, thanks.

What’s more, this wasn’t some surface-road, low-speed, and carefully engineered “record run” designed to grab headlines. Mercedes emphasizes that this was a real-world test run, with highway speeds regularly exceeding 140 kmh (85-90 mph, which is legal there).

“(The Mercedes) VISION EQXX sliced through the wind at speeds of up to 140 km/h (87 mph),” reads the official press release. “With its low cd value of 0.17, it gives the wind virtually nothing to grab hold of. This world-beating figure for a road-legal vehicle results from the intelligent interaction of many individual measures. It starts with the basic shape of the body, cradling the smooth-surfaced dome of the greenhouse as it flows elegantly like a water droplet towards the rear … the active rear diffuser, which automatically deploys at 37 mph (60 kmh), provides better airflow and thus contributes significantly to the reduced drag.”

For context, this Mercedes went 100 miles further than the highest EPA-rated range achieved by a production car— the 520 mile Lucid Air Dream Edition— and more than 200 miles further than the standard-bearing Tesla Model S Long Range. And, sure, the VISION EQXX is a multi-million dollar prototype specifically designed to do stuff like this— but still: mission accomplished!

You can check out a few more pictures of the Mercedes VISION EQXX electric concept car in the gallery, below, then let us know what you think of this slippery stunner in the comments section at the bottom of the page.