First Drive of the Mercedes-Benz Vision EQXX
Driving An Electric Dream
Mercedes-Benz first showed the Vision EQXX concept car at the Consumer Electronics show in January — and several months later the EQXX is breaking records for its ultra-efficient electric performance. Its currently The World’s Most Efficient Sports Car, primed for the Conceptual Future.
The EQXX is not a concept car in the traditional sense. It’s a multi-million project car that’s meant to show where Mercedes-Benz intends to take its electric EQ brand forward. It’s fully engineered, street legal, full of top-tier sustainable interior design, and a good deal of imagination. Its the kitchen sink of electric vehicles that has Cactus-fabric seats, bamboo-woven floor rugs, and partially solar-paneled roof. After driving this one-of-one vehicle, it’s our current favorite ride that money can’t buy, because at the moment its NFS.
Let’s start with its concept car status. Concept cars are always the coolest. When an advanced design department is tasked with a concept, designers cast aside conventional guidelines such as safety, regulations, and cost-effective manufacturing in order to present a vision. It’s why the cars shown at auto shows are always a bit more exciting than the cars on the road. (Mercedes also recently showed its next level Vision AMG upping the ante on electric sports car fantasies.)
Rather than a shell of an idea, the EQXX was more of a fully formed project from the go, equipped with a battery-powered engine and a rich interior. Since then, the car has taken an aggressive trajectory to show its capabilities and become a symbol for the EQ electric car brand’s potential trajectory. This spring Mercedes embarked on two competitive joy rides to showcase its efficiency. Most recently the EQXX drove from Stuttgart, Germany to Silverstone, England a on single charge to go a consecutive 747 mile on a single charge. It was besting its own 1000 kilometer record that it made traveling across Europe to its design center in Nice in May.
I’ve been in the Mercedes-Benz EQXX on two occasions. My first ride was as passenger seat in Monaco, shortly after the vehicle completed its first Southern France road trip. I was first struck by ultra-slick UX experience that feels like mission control, adding more screen and info to the original MBUX platform. My second ride was last week at Immendingen, Germany, at Mercedes-Benz private proving grounds in the southwest agricultural region of the country. This time I got behind the wheel to experience this work of imagination myself.
From the moment I switched into gear, I drove the EQXX with extreme care. Where I thrived was in my minimal power consumption, using a setting that let the car roll down hills and round the corners. I didn’t flirt with its powerful potential, but I saw sure signs of verve. I had a Mercedes co-driver coaching me on how I could do better on my efficient driving technique, using the various settings for maximum energy saving D- -, D-, D and D+, which made good sport of the ride and the implementation of when and how to use regenerative braking. A synthetic voice also chimed in along the way, embedded in the MBUX infotainment system to keep me abreast of my driving skills. Things that held my efficient performance back: a too-timid foot missing out on a bit regenerative braking action, air conditioning on full blast in the blistering Euro heat wave, and a respectful full stop at a stop sign for oncoming engineering traffic. But still, I achieved a commendable 8.93 miles per kilowatt hour.
For an EV, the EQXX is light at 3900 pounds, made from lightweight alloys such as aluminum, magnesium and carbon fiber. For comparison, I also drove another prototype that uses the same powertrain, an EQB known as EMMA, a bare bones SUV that outweighed the slim EQXX. (More deets on the real EQB in a separate review!) If I wanted to charge it, EQXX charges from 10 to 80 percent in 30 minutes on a fast charger.
Mercedes has done everything possible to minimize hinderance to its efficient performance on the EQXX, a configuration of numbers around a record breaking .17 drag coefficient. It downsized to a 100 kilo-watt battery from the system used in the EQS sedan, making it 50 percent smaller and 30 percent lighter. Its engineering draws from the high-profile Formula 1 team’s engineering prowess – the same team that Lewis Hamilton has won multiple championships within recent years. It produces 200 horsepower, but the speed and 0 to 6 miles per hour time isn’t the point. It’s more about smooth sailing using no power at all.
My favorite part of this engineering experiment? The joy the engineering teams showed in various videos and in on-site interviews. After sitting through hundreds of engineering presentations, only a handful give this pure enthusiasm, where everyone seems to have done their. It was great to see a young team so enthusiastic about making a car that’s better for the future. Under the hood, all had signed the hood, inking their part on Mercedes effort to make every last bit of energy last.