Beware of calm water or choppy water, as they say.
In the automotive industry, this saying seems proven and is consistent with the Mercedes-Benz Group (I will) .
The German brand has so far been in the background as competitors announce their projects and products in the highly lucrative electric car market.
To believe that Mercedes-Benz, whose technological know-how is indisputable, lost the note distributed by Tesla (TSLA) – Get a Tesla Inc . report And CEO Elon Musk is a question that’s starting to bother even the star brand’s most loyal fans. According to this memorandum, or the so-called master plan, the car of the future will be electric and self-driving.
All auto manufacturers, old automakers, and new actors swear by and approve of electric vehicles. And so every week is marked by a flurry of advertisements despite the fact that supply chains have been disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, chip shortages and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
We must believe that during all this time Mercedes-Benz did not sleep, because the German car manufacturer just made an amazing announcement.
Mercedes Benz
1,000 kilometers without recharging
Mercedes-Benz’s concept electric car, the EQXX, has covered more than 1,000 kilometers without recharging, and has a battery similar in capacity to current models, a feat celebrated by the factory as a “pioneer” in the battle for autonomy.
The car traveled 1,008 kilometers (626 miles), in real traffic conditions and conditions, between the group’s research center in Sindelfingen in southern Germany and Cassis on the French Riviera, Mercedes announced in a statement. The battery’s state of charge on arrival was about 15 percent, equivalent to a remaining range of about 140 km (87 miles), and average consumption was a record low of 8.7 kWh per 100 km (7.1 kWh per 62 miles) . It arrived after nearly 12 hours.
“We did it!” Ola Källenius, Chairman of the Mercedes-Benz Group AG Board of Directors boasted. “The EQXX is the most efficient Mercedes ever. The technology program behind it marks a milestone in the development of electric vehicles.”
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Equipped with a battery of one hundred kilowatt-hours (kWh), the particularly efficient prototype consumed less than half of current comparable models.
The Mercedes-Benz electric S-Class EQS, which currently leads the group’s luxury electric car at more than €100,000 (US$108,308), consumes between 16 and 17 kWh over a 100-kilometre range, often more in real conditions. Autonomy is 780 km according to the WLTP standard.
The Tesla Model 3 and Tesla Model S, their direct competitors, offer up to 650 km of autonomy for a consumption generally of 16-20 kWh per 100 km.
The feat is raising fears that Mercedes-Benz is robbing Tesla of the lead in innovation. Tesla’s advantage and strength so far has been based on its technological prowess over its competitors.
Mercedes Benz
Consumers will soon be able to benefit from these innovations
Mercedes-Benz said it used the aerodynamic profile, improved braking energy recovery, a lighter battery and rooftop solar panels to power the onboard systems, new lighter materials and a transmission system with very little power loss.
The same car with a more efficient thermal engine would certainly have consumed three to four liters of fuel for a 100 kilometer run, according to the company.
Mercedes-Benz said that the electric energy consumed is equivalent to about one liter, but the efficiency of a conventional transmission is less useful than electric technology. The new chemistry of the battery in particular allows it to be made much denser, and therefore smaller and less heavy in the same amount.
She added that this is the next generation of chemistry that the manufacturer intends to roll out on a larger scale by 2024.
“Several innovative developments are already being incorporated into production, some of which are in the next generation of modular engineering for Mercedes-Benz compact and mid-size vehicles,” said Markus Schaefer, chief technology officer in charge of development and procurement. “We will continue to test the limits of what is possible.