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Mercedes-Benz wins the EV range race with 750-mile EQXX concept


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Mercedes-Benz seems intent on winning the electric car range race. It released a series of dark sketches to preview a concept named EQXX that's capable of driving from Beijing to Shanghai without stopping for a charge.

Precisely 753 miles separate these two megacities, according to Google Maps. As of writing, there is not a single electric car on the market capable of covering that distance without making a charging stop. Many gasoline-burning cars don't offer such a high driving range, though there are a handful capable of effortlessly breaking the 700-mile barrier. Mercedes would earn serious bragging rights by putting a 750-mile electric car in showrooms.

It doesn't sound like you'll be able to buy the EQXX, however. While its final design remains under wraps, it's presented as a rolling laboratory of technology built to explore ways to maximize range without resorting to using a battery pack that weighs as much as a 1980s Chevrolet Suburban. Engineers are putting a major emphasis on streamlining the design, increasing the powertrain's efficiency, and offsetting the battery's mass.

"While Vision EQXX is a technology program, it is expected to result in innovations that will quickly make their way into series-produced cars," the company said in a statement. There are quite a few models it can influence: Mercedes-Benz recently detailed over half a dozen electric cars it plans to bring to the market in the 2020s.

It sounds like the EQXX should have made its global debut at the canceled 2020 Paris auto show that was scheduled to open its doors on October 1. We expect the concept will break cover online in the coming months.

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