Mercedes EQXX travels 626 miles on single charge

By Sam Phillips

14 Apr 2022

The Mercedes Vision EQXX concept car has proved it can travel a distance of 626 miles on a single charge, after driving from Germany to France.

Last month Move Electric awarded the EQXX the Best Use of Electricity Award thanks to its groundbreaking design and innovative 100kWh battery, which is 50% of the volume and 30% lighter than the already impressive unit on sale in the EQS today.

To prove its capabilities, earlier this month the EQXX travelled from the German city of Sindelfingen via the Swiss Alps and Northern Italy to its destination in Cassis, France, covering a distance of 1008km (626 miles) at an average speed of 54.3mph on a single charge.

The 620-mile Mercedes-Benz Vision EQXX has arrived to end range anxiety

What is more also impressive however, is that when the car arrived in France, the EQXX still had 15% of its battery charge left, meaning it would have been able to travel a further 140km (87 miles).

Over the course of the journey, the one-off concept achieved an average consumption of 8.7kWh per 100km.

To reinforce the effectiveness of the test, Mercedes sealed the charging socket and enlisted an independent expert to oversee the journey from Germany to France.

The test was undertaken at regular road speeds, including prolonged fast-lane cruising at up to 140 km/h (87mph) on the German autobahn and near the speed limit elsewhere.

When departing from Sindelfigen the temperature was as low as 3 degrees, further highlighting the impressive figures the EQXX achieved on the route, which saw the car travel through four different countries.

The Vision EQXX was unveiled at the Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas earlier this year, with the test car being identical to the concept revealed there.

Aerodynamics played a key role in EQXX’s efficiency, with the new EV achieving a drag coefficient of just 0.17Cd - the lowest ever achieved by a road-legal Mercedes.

The low-slung supper-slippery silhouette has been created to maximise range, with Mercedes doing away with the EQS grille, opting instead for a smoother front end, which features an LED light bar.

The A-pillars are set forward, while at the rear the car is 50mm narrower to further promote aerodynamic efficiency. Bespoke 20-inch wheels also aid performance.

Software has also been at the forefront of the EQXX development, with the car featuring an efficiency assistant which provides information on energy flow, battery status, topography and even the direction and intensity of wind and sun.

Mercedes says it has "unequivocally proven the real-world potential of outstanding efficiency for electric vehicles", adding that the first road trip to France is a ‘"watershed moment".

“With our successful road trip to the South of France, we've shown that efficiency is the new currency,” said Markus Schäfer, chief technology officer for Mercedes-Benz.

“The 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.”