Photo: S. Baldauf/Guido ten Brink
Mercedes-Benz chose this year's Paris Motor Show for one of the brand's most important moments: the launch of its new, EV-dedicated brand called EQ. And not a moment too soon.
This crucial stage in the company's existence had to be marked properly, and a simple press conference just couldn't have cut it. This called for a concept car. After teasing it yesterday, Mercedes-Benz took the wraps off its first electric vehicle build from the ground up with this powertrain in mind, and we're having mixed emotions about it.
After the weird-looking F015 Luxury in Motion (you can call it the "Silver Potato" like we do), Mercedes has been on a roll as far as concepts go. The IAA Concept was a stunner while the more recent Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6 Concept is still very deeply imprinted on our retina. And now, the Germans have come up with the Generation EQ, the car that's supposed to preview the brand's future electric vehicles.
As suggested by earlier reports, Mercedes-Benz chose a mid-sized SUV as its first ever full-time EV. To ask "why" is to ignore the current trend in pretty much every significant market in this world. One in every four vehicles sold right now is an SUV, and the percentage is expected to grow over the next years. Which is a good thing for Mercedes because even though it presents the Gen EQ as a "close to production" concept, we will have to wait for a few years until the final version arrives.
The main thing to take from the Generation EQ is its design elements. Mercedes-Benz insists that its future members of the EQ range will bear the same identity as this concept. They call it "electro look," we call it "you could have done better look." The fact that electric vehicles don't need a radiator grille like conventional vehicles is giving designers quite a headache.
Tesla seems to have gone a different way with the Model 3, but Mercedes decided that if the car won't actually have a grille, they can at least draw one. The result? Something resembling those old ladies who pluck the hairs on their eyebrows completely and then draw them back using black liner. It probably just takes some using to, but right now we feel the front and rear of the Generation EQ look like induction cooktops. And yet they won't fry an egg.
The "electro look" is mirrored on the inside as well. The interior definitely looks Mercedes, with a floating ultra-wide display reminding of the current layout in the E-Class and the upcoming S-Class facelift. The Germans did commit a very big mistake by removing all knobs and relying solely on a touch-sensitive interface. We all know that doesn't work well while you're driving, but since Mercedes is also working on developing autonomous technology, that might not be an issue. Plus, you'll get voice commands and gesture control, so there will be plenty of feedback.
The go-power is provided by a pair of electric motors generating a combined 300 kW maximum output (402 hp) and 700 Nm (516 lb-ft) of torque. The Generation EQ will offer plenty of oomph with a promised 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) acceleration time of under five seconds. Energy reserves are covered by a 70 kWh battery that can provide enough juice for up to 500 kilometers (over 300 miles). We're guessing that's NEDC rated.
Mercedes-Benz is putting everything it has at the moment in its new electric SUV, and that's a lot of tech. But most of all, it's investing a lot of trust, which is a long-awaited guarantee that the future will be indeed electric. The EQ range is still in its infancy (more like embryo-phase, actually), but it's hard to believe there's room for a change of heart now. These are exciting moments for fans of electric cars.
After the weird-looking F015 Luxury in Motion (you can call it the "Silver Potato" like we do), Mercedes has been on a roll as far as concepts go. The IAA Concept was a stunner while the more recent Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6 Concept is still very deeply imprinted on our retina. And now, the Germans have come up with the Generation EQ, the car that's supposed to preview the brand's future electric vehicles.
As suggested by earlier reports, Mercedes-Benz chose a mid-sized SUV as its first ever full-time EV. To ask "why" is to ignore the current trend in pretty much every significant market in this world. One in every four vehicles sold right now is an SUV, and the percentage is expected to grow over the next years. Which is a good thing for Mercedes because even though it presents the Gen EQ as a "close to production" concept, we will have to wait for a few years until the final version arrives.
The main thing to take from the Generation EQ is its design elements. Mercedes-Benz insists that its future members of the EQ range will bear the same identity as this concept. They call it "electro look," we call it "you could have done better look." The fact that electric vehicles don't need a radiator grille like conventional vehicles is giving designers quite a headache.
Tesla seems to have gone a different way with the Model 3, but Mercedes decided that if the car won't actually have a grille, they can at least draw one. The result? Something resembling those old ladies who pluck the hairs on their eyebrows completely and then draw them back using black liner. It probably just takes some using to, but right now we feel the front and rear of the Generation EQ look like induction cooktops. And yet they won't fry an egg.
The "electro look" is mirrored on the inside as well. The interior definitely looks Mercedes, with a floating ultra-wide display reminding of the current layout in the E-Class and the upcoming S-Class facelift. The Germans did commit a very big mistake by removing all knobs and relying solely on a touch-sensitive interface. We all know that doesn't work well while you're driving, but since Mercedes is also working on developing autonomous technology, that might not be an issue. Plus, you'll get voice commands and gesture control, so there will be plenty of feedback.
The go-power is provided by a pair of electric motors generating a combined 300 kW maximum output (402 hp) and 700 Nm (516 lb-ft) of torque. The Generation EQ will offer plenty of oomph with a promised 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) acceleration time of under five seconds. Energy reserves are covered by a 70 kWh battery that can provide enough juice for up to 500 kilometers (over 300 miles). We're guessing that's NEDC rated.
Mercedes-Benz is putting everything it has at the moment in its new electric SUV, and that's a lot of tech. But most of all, it's investing a lot of trust, which is a long-awaited guarantee that the future will be indeed electric. The EQ range is still in its infancy (more like embryo-phase, actually), but it's hard to believe there's room for a change of heart now. These are exciting moments for fans of electric cars.
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