EQC: the first ever all-electric Mercedes-Benz

We take a look at the first official pictures of the new Mercedes SUV EV

Greg Kable

4 September 2018

Follow @@autocar

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Mercedes-Benz has revealed the first of up to 10 new pure electric models due before 2025 with the unveiling of its eagerly-awaited EQC.

A key rival to the Jaguar I-Pace, Tesla Model X and soon-to-be-revealed Audi e-tron Quattro, the new five-seat EQC SUV is the first dedicated electric Mercedes-Benz model to be placed into series production. The EQC is based around a heavily modified version of the GLC platform.
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Style

Stylistically, it leans heavily on the early Generation EQ concept, first revealed in 2016. It retains the same basic shape and five-door layout of the earlier concept, albeit with altered detailing such as the front-end design. Autocar understands that the EQC achieves a drag co-efficient of under 0.30.
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Size

At 4761mm in length, 1884mm in width and 1324mm in height, the EQC is 105mm longer and a considerable 315mm lower than the GLC, with which it shares its 2873mm wheelbase.
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Interior

Inside, the new model uses an upgraded version of the GLC’s cabin, parts of which are set to appear on a facelifted version of the mid-range SUV due out in 2019, including a newly-designed dashboard featuring a digital instrument and infotainment panel, reworked ventilation units and new multi-function steering wheel featuring touch pads within the horizontal spokes.
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Space

With seating for five and some 79 litres more luggage space than the GLC at a claimed 500-litres, versatility will be one of the EQC’s strongest selling points.
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Twin power

The EQC is powered by a newly developed electric drivetrain that’ll be used across the EQ range. Initially previewed in the Generation EQ concept, it consists of two electric motors – one powering the front wheels and another driving the rear wheels – that provide it with four-wheel drive capability, depending on the chosen driving mode.

Together, they deliver a combined output of 402bhp and 564lb ft of torque, moving the EQC's 2425kg kerbweight. By comparison, the 395bhp Jaguar I-Pace weighs 2130kg.
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Refinement

Each of the EQC’s motors is configured differently: the one up front is tuned for efficiency in the low-to-mid load range, while that at the rear is described as being more performance orientated with a greater emphasis on the mid-to-high load range. Rubber subframe mounts for the motors endow the EQC with class-leading refinement, according to Mercedes-Benz.
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Performance

In Sport mode the EQC will accelerate from 0-to-62mph in 5.1sec. Top speed is limited to 112mph. In a display of its versatility, the German car maker also claims a towing capacity of 1800kg and 515kg payload. Energy to power the motors is supplied by an 80kWh battery. All up, the lithium-ion unit weighs 650kg, or almost 27 per cent of the EQC’s total kerb weight.
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Range

With a claimed range of 280 miles on the current NEDC test cycle, the EQC can’t quite match the 336 miles of the I-Pace, which features a larger 90kWh battery, under the same test conditions.
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Charging

A standard 7.4kW on-board charger enables AC charging via either regular mains or high-voltage public charging stations. Under DC charging, the EQC’s battery can be charged from 10-to-80 per cent at up to 110kW in around 40mins.
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Production

The EQC will be produced at both Mercedes-Benz’s Bremen plant in northern Germany and a joint venture factory in Beijing. The brand says it constructed over 200 prototypes of the EQC in a program claimed to have covered “several million kilometers across four continents”.
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AUTOCAR COMMENT, BY MATT SAUNDERS:

So it looks like Mercedes' first committed stab at a proper EV will weigh more than a Tesla Model S and a Jaguar i-Pace - and with 80kWh of battery capacity, may very well not offer quite as much real-world cruising range as either.
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AUTOCAR COMMENT, BY MATT SAUNDERS:

We’d be foolish to make any judgements about it on the basis of such preliminary information, or without knowing for sure exactly how Mercedes will be pricing the car – but that’s probably not the greatest of starts for it to have gotten off to.

I like the sound of the car’s motor configurations, though. It certainly makes sense to me to vary either the size of the motor at each axle, or its gearing, or both, in order to optimise performance and energy efficiency throughout the speed range.
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AUTOCAR COMMENT, BY MATT SAUNDERS:

And Mercedes’ claim is promising, too: that the strategy will boost the car’s handling dynamism, with the bigger and more powerful motor being at the rear, and perhaps only called upon when the car’s in ‘sport’ mode or being driven under high load.

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