Mercedes announces NZ price for EQC electric SUV

Monday, 25 November 2019

We go for a ride in a pre-series Mercedes-Benz EQC, the German manufacturer's first all-electric SUV.

Mercedes-Benz has revealed the local pricing and launch date for its first production electric vehicle, the EQC.

The medium-sized SUV will arrive in local showrooms in January (with customer deliveries starting shortly after) as a single model - the EQC 400 4matic - that will cost $142,900. It is the first fully electric vehicle from Mercedes-Benz's EQ 'electric mobility' division.

The EQC's sharp price sees it undercut the Jaguar I-Pace (which starts at $144,900) and the larger Tesla Model X (which starts at $159,900 for the Long Range model), while landing right in the middle of the Audi e-tron range, thanks to the recent launch of the lower-power, lesser range e-tron 50 model ($134,900) under the e-tron 55 model (that starts at $148,500).

The Mercedes-Benz EQC will come to New Zealand as a single model - the EQC 400 4matic.

Of course, all of that should be framed with a big 'for now' disclaimer, as all of the EQC's main competition has been shuffling prices around as a new entrant lands - particularly Jaguar and Tesla - and the EQC's sharp price may fire up the competition yet again.

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The EQC 400 4matic will be in Kiwi showrooms in January, with the first deliveries shortly after that.

Mercedes-Benz New Zealand General Manager Lance Bennett said New Zealand would be among the first countries in the world to receive stock of the EQC.

'The EQC changes the game in the electric vehicle market, adding a level of luxury and attention to detail that meets the exacting demands of our customers in every way,' he said.

Mercedes-Benz says the EQC has a fully-charged range of up to 434km.

'We're not the first to market in the electric segment, we simply wanted to be the best. The EQC is a complete, user-friendly solution to future mobility, but it's also a signpost to an exciting rollout of hybrid and all-electric vehicles from the EQ division over the next few years and beyond.'

Mercedes-Benz says the EQC's energy consumption is rated at 21.4 kWh/100km, with a fully-charged range if of up to 434 km (ADR).

The company says that 30 minutes on a 110kW rapid charger will put 220km of range into the EQC's lithium-ion battery pack (that comes with an 8-year/160,000km warranty, on top of the EQC's standard 3-year/unlimited kilometre vehicle warranty), while the same amount of time on a 50kW fast charger will see 100km added.

The optional home charging wallbox will pump in 15km in 30 minutes, meaning an overnight charge at home will add around 240 to 300km to the EQC's battery.

The EQC 400 4matic is powered by two asynchronous 150kW electric motors pumping out a total of 300kW of power and 760Nm of torque, which sees it slightly out-muscling the Jaguar I-Pace (294kW/696Nm) and Audi e-tron 55 (265kW/561Nm, with a 300kW/664Nm boost function), easily besting the e-tron 50 (230kW/540Nm) and delivering less power, but more torque than the Long Range Model X (350kW/750Nm - that figure is not from Tesla, they make it intentionally hard to pin down such numbers).

Range is a similar story, with the EQC's claimed ADR (Australian Design Rules) number of 434km is larger than both the Audi e-tron (with the 50 clocking in at 328km, while the 55 claims 417km) and the Jaguar I-Pace (415km), both tested under the WLTP cycle.

Unsurprisingly the Long Range Tesla Model X trumps it with 507km (WLTP).

The EQC 400's sprint from a standstill to 100km/h of 5.1 seconds outpaces its fellow German competitor, easily beating the Audi e-tron 50's positively glacial 7.0 seconds, while also slightly shading the 55's 5.5 second 'boost mode' sprint time).

Both the Jaguar I-Pace and Tesla Model X Long Range are fractionally quicker, however, with 4.8 and 4.6 seconds respectively.

With all of the important numbers being so close - allowing for the Tesla's larger size and higher price, of course - the luxury electric SUV segment is shaping up to be something of a battleground next year and Mercedes-Benz's secret weapon may well be in the area of of interior quality and standard equipment.

Mercedes-Benz says the EQC 400 will come with a 'generous standard specification', with the now-expected dual 10.25-inch digital screens dominating the dash, as well as the company's MBUX operating system.

We were lucky enough to go for a ride-along in a 'pre-series' final shake-down version of the production car in Melbourne recently and can safely say that the EQC's interior quality is even higher than that of this year's Stuff Top Cars interior award winner, the Audi e-tron.

Perhaps most interestingly, however, is the relative price parity the EQC brings to the equivalent GLC models - the EV shares a large part of its platform with the petrol-powered GLC - with performance (and, most likely, equipment) levels sitting well above the $101,400 GLC 4matic (190kW/360Nm) and actually between the turbo V6 AMG GLC 43 ($130,900, 287kW/520Nm) and the volcanic turbo V8 AMG GLC 63 ($182,400, 375kW/700Nm).