“Now Electric has a Mercedes”
Is how Mercedes-Benz announced to the world that as of October 2018 they will have an electric offering in the form of the: EQC. A more car-like approach than electric vehicles of yesteryear and the first fully electric SUV from Daimler group. However, it not the first car-like EV to be offered by a premium marque: we can thank Jaguar’s well received I-Pace for that.
With the sports utility vehicle boom still in full swing, mainstream brands are focussing on creating their first electric vehicle as an SUV, the packaging of vehicle batteries for example, is far easier to engineer into a higher riding vehicle compared to that of a saloon or compact vehicle; not to mention a potential sales success.
For premium German marques such as Audi, BMW and Mercedes, it is not their first electric vehicle to come to market, with years of investment and development in electric and alternate vehicle technology. As such, the addition of an electric vehicle such as SUV merely adds another bow to their array.
On the outside, the ECV is like nothing Mercedes currently offers, purposely. With subtle blue highlights on the headlights, grill surround and select alloy wheel designs it doesn’t choose to shout about it’s eco credentials. The placement of the charge port for example is tucked behind what we’re accustomed to interacting with as the fuel filler cap on the drivers side of the car.
The EQC is the first vehicle from Mercedes EQ range which is set to expand later this year, think of EQ as you would BMW’s i-Range; almost a separate brand with its own model line and design language to boot.
With a 300KW battery, it produces power equivalent to around 400hp. The EQC is no slouch in the city or the open road where it will continue for 279 miles of range, dependent on driving style of course. However, on the inside, unless you’re particularly eagle eyed it’s business as usual with Mercedes sweeping dash and extended centre console of recent years, now with their latest infotainment system: MBUX. It is this infotainment system alone that could set the EQC aside from it’s rivals, the ability to map to anywhere in the world by just voice commanding three words may seem like a novelty feature; but really it means you will never be lost with the EQC by your side.
