Mercedes Benz has kicked off the virtual CES 2022 proceedings with its stunning new Vision EQXX concept car which it claims delivers 1,000 kilometers of range on a single charge. Amazingly, it manages this with approximately the same size battery as the EQS packaged in a smaller futuristic sedan that looks extremely aerodynamic. It doesn’t only look very aerodynamic, it becomes the most aerodynamic car in the world, beating out the EQS with a drag coefficient of 0.17 which is one of the key secrets behind its range.
And while only a concept, it is close to being production-ready and Mercedes will even have a road-legal version of the car run for 1,000 km to prove its claims around the range. It heralds a new design language for Mercedes Benz vehicles in the age of electric cars with its losing the iconic Mercedes grille. This car just sips energy at a rate of 10kWh per 100 km which means that in terms of petrol cars an efficiency of 100 km per litre.
It also acts as a showcase of new-age technologies and materials that Mercedes will start to introduce in its cars displacing its carbon footprint and impact on nature. It leverages a new modular Ev architecture that Mercedes has developed which can even be used in an A-Class. And one of the things that makes it so efficient is the weight – 1,750 kg which makes it very light for an EV thanks to a new battery which is now 50 percent less in volume and has 30 percent less mass than on the EQS while retaining the same capacity. The EQXX will even get solar panels on its roof which further add to its range by 25 km. But as far as performance goes, then this isn’t the fastest EV we have seen — it can only do 201 bhp which makes it slower than even the EQS.
It gets a new hyper screen – a horizontal single piece 47.5-inch 8K affair leveraging OLED technology which also gets high-end smart TV technologies like local area dimming which turns the screen off when blacks have to visualised. In fact, the user interface is also mindful of this technology which means it’s darker and more power-efficient. There are new UI elements like a 3D mapping system which has been developed in partnership with NAVIS Automotive systems.
Building on top of its Vision AVATR concept from CES 2020, sustainable materials like cactus-based leather, bamboo carpets, and synthetic silk have been integrated into the car as substitutes for the real world alternatives which involve killing animals.
The most striking and poignant thing about the Vision EQXX is that despite being a concept it is a road-legal car where everything actually works. This is truly closer to a production car that will show up as a production model sooner than later in some form or the other, but most definitely, the technology showcased will immediately start trickling in.
