Mercedes expands electric EQ range by six

Thursday, 8 October 2020

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

Mercedes-Benz has detailed six follow-up models to its electric EQC SUV.

The EQ family will be expanded over the next few years, starting with the compact EQA this year and larger EQB in 2021. These won’t be all-new models however, instead using the A- and B-Class underpinnings with all-electric powertrains, similar to the EQC’s relation to the GLC.

We’ll first see Mercedes’ bespoke electric architecture later in 2021 in the EQS, which is said to be a “different luxury tech proposition” to the petrol and hybrid S-Class. It is produced together with the S-Class in 'Factory 56' in Sindelfingen, one of the world's most modern car factories.

The plug-in hybrid A 250 will give way to an all-electric version next year.

The EQS, which we sampled as a very early prototype back in March, will have a range of up to 700km thanks to a 100kWh battery with around 350kW of power and 700Nm of torque. It’ll arrive some time next year.

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Mercedes will follow the EQS sedan with an SUV version and an EQE model, which will also get sedan and SUV variants. No timeline was given for these but we’d expect to see them between 2022 and 2023.

Finally, the G-Class will get an electrified model, as will the AMG and Maybach sub-brands. This is an effort to reach net neutrality for carbon output by 2039.

Additionally, Mercedes says electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles will account for more than half of its sales before the end of this decade.