Mercedes-Benz expands EV range

Six new EV models are coming from Mercedes-Benz, with the EQS in the new S-Class range launching internationally next year.

The EQS is the first to use the new electric architecture for EV of the luxury and executive segment at Mercedes-Benz which it will introduce globally in 2021.

With the EQE business saloon and the SUV variants of EQS and EQE, further models based on the new architecture will follow soon.

Test drives are being held, mainly at the Test and Technology Centre in Immendingen.

In the compact class, production of the EQA, the fully electric brother of the GLA, will start later this year, followed by the EQB in 2021.

The wheelbase and track as well as all other system components, especially the batteries, are variable thanks to the modular design, Mercedes-Benz says.

This vehicle architecture makes it possible to build Mercedes-Benz electric cars from saloons to large SUVs.

The EQS comes with ranges up to 700km.

The EVs also use pioneering cross-sectoral technologies from Mercedes-Benz such as the MBUX (Mercedes-Benz User Experience) control and display system or the driving assistance systems.

The Mercedes-Benz Vision EQS concept car provided pointers to the progressive design of the coming EQS in September 2019.

Camouflaged prototypes undergoing testing are also foretelling key design features revolutionary for the luxury segment, such as the cab forward design or the coupé-like ‘one-bow’ styling.

Further details of the progressive design of the models EQS SUV, EQE and EQE SUV crucial for the success of the electric initiative remain under wraps.

Production of the EQA will start before the end of this year.

“The EQS has already piled up far more than two million test kilometres from the heat of South Africa to the cold of Northern Sweden”, says Mercedes-Benz EV architecture vice-president Christoph Starzynski who is responsible for the EQ vehicles.

“There were quite a few tests specifically for electric cars that cover important development priorities such as range, charging and efficiency.”

The EQS is produced together with the S-Class in Factory 56 in Sindelfingen, Germany.

All plants are able to produce vehicles with different types of powertrains and to respond quickly to changes in demand in the markets.

As part of its Ambition 2039 initiative, Mercedes-Benz is working on offering a CO2-neutral new car fleet less than 20 years.

The company wants electrically powered cars – including all-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles – to account for more than half of its sales by 2030.