Mercedes-Benz unveiled on Monday the battery-powered VISION EQXX prototype, which it claims will have a range of more than 1,000 kilometers (km) per charge, Reuters reports, quoted by News.ro.
The Daimler Group, which will soon be renamed Mercedes-Benz, has announced plans to invest more than 40 billion euros by 2030 to surpass Tesla in the all-electric car market, which includes the construction of eight battery plants.
From 2025, all its new vehicle platforms will only produce electric vehicles, he said.
The VISION EQXX, named the most efficient Mercedes-Benz ever built, will have a power consumption of less than 10 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per 100 km, Daimler said.
Tesla’s S 60 currently consumes 18.1 kWh over the same distance, according to data from the US company’s website.
“The Mercedes-Benz VISION EQXX is the way we imagine the future of electric cars,” said Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Kaellenius.
Daimler will test the prototype before mid-year on various types of terrain, technology director Markus Schaefer said on Monday.
Some prototype components will be available in Mercedes-Benz vehicles within two to three years, Schaefer said.
However, the chief technology officer declined to say when the 1,000-kilometer battery would be ready for launch.
“We will probably be the first to offer a car with a range of 1,000 km with such a small battery,” said Schaefer.
The timing of the sale of such a vehicle is a “market decision” that must be made once the carmaker determines how much customers expect it to pay and how much they would be willing to pay, he said.
The prototype, built over 18 months, “puts an end to the anxiety about autonomy,” said Mercedes-Benz, referring to one of the key obstacles for which there was no high demand for electric vehicles.
This required the development of a new battery pack, which the company says would fit in a compact vehicle and whose energy density – which measures how much power the batteries can hold compared to their size – is close. 400 watts per hour per liter.
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