Daimler, soon to be rebranded Mercedes-Benz, announced plans in 2021 to invest more than 40 billion euros (RM189bil) by 2030 to take on Tesla in an all-electric car market, including building eight battery plants.
From 2025, all its new vehicle platforms will only make EVs, it has said.
The VISION EQXX, dubbed the most-efficient Mercedes-Benz ever built, will have energy consumption of less than 10 kilowatt hours (kWh) per 100km, said Daimler.
Tesla's Model S 60 currently consumes 18.1 kWh over the same distance, data on its website shows
"The Mercedes-Benz VISION EQXX is how we imagine the future of electric cars," Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Kaellenius said.
Daimler will test-drive the prototype before the middle of the year on various types of terrain, chief technology officer Markus Schaefer told journalists on Monday.
Some components of the prototype would be available in Mercedes-Benz vehicles within two to three years, Schaefer said.
However, the CTO declined to specify when the 1,000 km-range battery would be market-ready.
"We will likely be the first to show a 1,000km-range car in real life, with such a small battery," Schaefer said.
When such a vehicle would go on sale is a "market decision" to be determined once the carmaker had established how much range customers expected and what they would be willing to pay, he said.
The prototype, built within 18 months, "puts an end to range anxiety," Mercedes-Benz said, referring to one of the key obstacles for why EVs have not been in higher demand.
This required developing a new battery pack, which the company says would fit into a compact vehicle and whose energy density - measuring how much power batteries can hold compared to their size - stands at close to 400 watt hours per litre.
DID YOU KNOW, THAT THE VISION EQXX…
…achieves more with less
Being efficient is all about cutting waste to an absolute minimum to make the most of what you have, be that energy, time or resources. In the Mercedes-Benz VISION EQXX, efficiency means more range from less energy, more tangible luxury and convenience with less impact on nature, and more electric mobility with less waste. It also means radically shorter development times through the application of advanced digital tools and cross-functional teamwork.
…can get from Berlin to Paris on a single charge
A single charge of the VISION EQXX would take you from Berlin to Paris, from New York City to Cincinnati, Ohio, or from Beijing to Nanjing. Not because it has a big battery, but because it’s highly efficient. Based on average distances driven per year, a driver in the U.S. or China would have to fully recharge the VISION EQXX only twice per month and in Europe just once per month14.
…is the electric equivalent of a “1-litre car”
The VISION EQXX uses less than 10 kWh of electrical energy to travel 100km. That equates to traveling 6 miles on 1kWh of electrical energy.
But what does that mean? Translated into fossil-fuel consumption, this is around the golden figure of 1 litre per 100km (235 mpg US or 282 mpg UK).
Here are a few examples of what 10kWh of energy delivers in other areas of life:
> Run a tumble dryer for just over 3 hours
> Run an average domestic air conditioner for around 3 hours
> Use an iron for 5 hours
> Watch a 50-inch LED TV for 100 hours
> Run the conventional (non-LED) floodlights at a major sports stadium for around 3 minutes
…is more aerodynamic than an American football
On a long-distance journey, a typical EV uses around two-thirds of its energy just pushing its way through the air.
At 0.1716, the ground-breaking cd figure of the VISION EQXX can make a big difference at motorway cruising speeds. A reduction of just 0.01 adds around 2.5% to the range.
Let’s put that into context with a few other drag coefficients:
> Penguin – 0.05
> VISION EQXX – 0.1716
> EQS – 0.20
> American football – 0.18 to 0.2
> Cyclist –0.6 to >0.8
> Person – 0.8 to 1.2
> Parachute – 1.1 to 1.3
