Not so long ago, a range of 300 miles seemed like a healthy goal for electric vehicles. Most recently, the Lucid Air, with a range of 520 miles (837 kilometers), became the world’s longest range electric vehicle. But this record may not last long.

The Mercedes-Benz Vision EQXX and its showroom-bound tech looks set to take away range worries forever: In April, an elegant sedan prototype made the 621-mile (1,000-kilometer) drive across the Alps from the Mercedes plant in Sindelfingen to the Mercedes plant -Benz in Sindelfingen. Côte d’Azur in Cassis, France, the battery is in excess. He cemented that feat in late May when the prototype covered a world-record 747 miles (1,202 kilometers) run from Germany to the Formula One circuit at Silverstone, UK.

This was no ordinary long-distance college engineering project, a one-man death trap made from tissue paper and balsa wood, with no amenities or hope of being certified for use on public roads. Despite modest power, a futuristic teardrop shape and next-generation technology, developed in just 18 months, the EQXX is otherwise a familiar Mercedes small luxury sedan. This includes a dramatic sci-fi display and a human-machine interface that spans the entire control panel. To underscore real intentions, Mercedes is promising that the EQXX powertrain will hit showrooms by 2024. The initial show car, and of course more, will be built on the company’s new Mercedes Modular Architecture platform for small “entry-level luxury” models. such as A-class and CLA. While Mercedes has been refining its unique tech showpiece, it has even used the current EQB as a powertrain test mule.

“This vehicle is a research project, but we are using it to develop our next compact vehicle platform,” says Konrad Sagert, a Mercedes engineer who develops electric drive systems.

The engineering team included experts from the Mercedes-EQ Formula E team with extensive experience in electric vehicle racing. Developed in just 18 months, the rear-wheel drive Vision EQXX features a single, entirely in-house developed radial-flow electric motor powered by a battery pack with a usable energy of just under 100 kilowatt-hours. Inside, sustainable materials include cactus trim panels, mushroom-based seat inserts and bamboo fiber floor mats. One thing that won’t be in production by 2024 is the high-silicon EQXX battery anode, which Sagert says will hit showrooms in about four years. Such silicon-rich anodes, which can extend battery range, are expected to be popular over the next decade.

The 241 horsepower output provides a reasonable 7-second ride from 0 to 60 mph. But from a light (for an electric vehicle) curb weight of 3,900 pounds to wind-cheating aerodynamics, the carbon-fiber-bodied EQXX is designed for sheer efficiency, not for winning traffic-light races. The Benz was consuming electrons at 8.7 miles per kWh during its Côte d’Azur run, almost double the Lucid’s roughly 4.5 kWh (the current maximum for global electric vehicles) and 7.5 miles per kWh during the trip to the UK. If that electrical math still seems esoteric, the England-bound benz posted the equivalent of 262 mpg, nearly double the industry-leading Tesla Model 3 Standard Range’s 141 mpg.

The roof panel with 117 solar cells reduces load by feeding a conventional 12-volt system to power accessories including lighting, audio system and decent screens. Minority report. On a cloudy April trip through the south of France with a lot of tunnel crossings, the panels saved 13 kilometers of range. During a sunnier trip to the UK in May, the solar roof saved 43 kilometers.

Vision EQXX roof panel with 117 solar panels.Mercedes Benz

Aerodynamics naturally play an important role, including a tiny frontal area and Kamm’s impressive tail, whose active rear diffuser expands nearly eight inches at speeds above 23 mph. The sidewalls of specially designed Bridgestone tires fit snugly to the body and 20-inch magnesium alloy wheels, contributing to a claimed drag coefficient of 0.17, which is higher than any current production car. Surprisingly for such a slippery design, the EQXX features traditional but aerodynamic exterior mirrors: Mercedes says the camera-based “mirrors” used in many concept cars use too much electricity to be of any measurable benefit.

Contrary to today’s regulations for electric vehicles, the battery and motor are completely cooled by air. The elimination of liquid cooling circuits, pumps and fluids resulted in weight and packaging reductions. To cool the battery, the smooth bottom acts as a heatsink. The design reversed a common engineering problem in both electric and internal combustion engine vehicles: the problem was heat dissipation. in The system brings the battery and engine to optimum operating temperature. Active front louvers can open to increase airflow when needed.

“We don’t get enough waste heat, so we had to isolate the electric motor. It’s about heat management, but the other way around,” says Sagert.

Add that up and the EQXX puts a claimed 95 percent of its electricity into direct traffic, compared to 90 percent for current Mercedes models like the EQS. If that doesn’t sound like a big win to non-engineers, Sagert puts it another way: EQXX reduces typical electric vehicle energy losses by 50 percent.

“We always hope for that magic, but really it’s the sum of the details,” says Sagert.

This obsession with tiny details has paid off. Based on computer simulations and dyno simulations, the engineers found the 1,000-kilometer run to be a daunting task and planned a trip across the Mediterranean to Cassis, France. Instead, the car dispelled those conservative predictions. Entering Cassis, the EQXX had 140 kilometers of range left.

“We thought about waving our hand and just driving on, but we weren’t allowed,” Sagert says, not least because Mercedes board member and chief technical officer Markus Schaefer was waiting to greet them. Mercedes then set itself higher goals and chose Silverstone and its Formula 1 circuit, ideal for team meetings.

“We started thinking, can we do a longer run?” says Sagert. “We have always wanted to visit our Formula E colleagues who have contributed so much to the project. But again we thought, “This is going to be very difficult.”

To make the runs legal, Mercedes was determined to drive at real speeds and in real conditions, not “hypermiles” on the way to some illusory record. The car reached 83 km/h in the UK and 87 km/h to Cassis. The test drivers even used the air conditioning for eight hours of the two-day, 14-hour and 30-minute trip to Silverstone and experienced road closures on the Autobahn and traffic around London.

The elegant sedan ended the record-breaking trip with a spirited sweep: despite some misgivings, the team handed over their precious prototype to Formula E team driver Nike de Vries. The Type-A rider forgot about efficiency and pushed the car to the limit on the Silverstone F1 circuit under the supervision of nervous engineers. Where truckers relied almost exclusively on regenerative braking (with four adjustable levels) during their rides, de Vries had to put the car’s new aluminum brake discs to the test. These ultra-lightweight rotors are possible because Benz so rarely needs to use foot-actuated mechanical brakes, as telemetry from the track showed.

“In three laps, de Vries burned more energy using mechanical brakes than we did in two full runs” across Europe, says Sagert. “But there was a good feeling that it’s not some kind of show car and that you can give it to a racer and it won’t fall apart.”

Some of these prototype technologies won’t be implemented in future production models – for example, carbon fiber bodywork is a supercar material, not a small, affordable Mercedes. However, the EQXX offers a tantalizing taste of what’s to come, including an entire day to enjoy.

“That range anxiety is no longer a problem,” says Sagert. “If you don’t have enough stock today, wait two years and the step will be big.”