Daimler’s new strategy update lays out the company’s heavy investment into EV models.
From 2025 onward, Mercedes says, you’ll be able to choose an all-electric alternative to every model it makes, and all new architectures will be purely electric. As part of the German automaker’s €40 billion ($47 billion) investment into EV tech and platforms over the next decade, the brand aims to not only electrify its entire lineup, but build out eight gigafactories to supply 200 Gigawatt-hours of batteries. We’ll also see cars like the Vision EQXX, a car that Mercedes teased last fall and provided another brief glimpse Thursday.
We still don’t know much with certainty, but it’s clear the car borrows cues from the Project One hypercar, as well as the earlier Vision EQ Silver Arrow concept. The narrow light strip across the front fascia and the prominent three-pointed star laid out across the hood is definitely a distinctive new look. Higher up the hood, the EQXX even gets a ventilated hood — a nod at Mercedes’ performance intentions with some of its new EV models. Beyond that, though, efficiency is also the name of the game as the company steals a march on Tesla’s dominant position in the EV market.
To that end, Mercedes claims the Vision EQXX will achieve more than 1,000 kilometers (621 miles). The development team is aiming for an efficiency target of “over 6 miles per kWh”, pegging the concept’s battery capacity at least on par with the Tesla Model S’ 100-kWh pack. At this point, that sort of capacity is just a guess, as the company could change battery sizes and tune the range to fit within each of its three new EV architectures: MB.EA for passenger cars, AMG.EA for performance models, and VAN.EA for light commercial vehicles.
While we chew on those figures, we will see the actual Vision EQXX next year. More specific figures should roll in then, but with this new concept and Mercedes’ heavy R&D spend — including hiring thousands of software engineers — the company looks poised to leave internal combustion behind over the next decade.
