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Mercedes EV standard for years to come


“Now that it’s out, you can’t put it back in the box. This car is currently in the room whenever anyone talks about what is possible and what is not. It changes what you think is acceptable, and it slightly changes your goals.” It was Malte Sievers, one of the Mercedes-Benz Vision EQXXproject managers, talk about this achievement of a car.

Sievers was part of a small team given a simple-sounding but exceptionally difficult task: Build a tram capable of driving more than 1,000 km (about 621 miles) on a single charge. In a petrol or diesel car, achieving a driving range of more than 600 miles is easy: Fit a bigger fuel tank (or a second) and call it a good job well done. In an electric car, it’s much harder.

The team pulled it out. Launched in January 2022, in April, the EQXX proved it was capable of breaking the 1,000-kilometer barrier by driving from Stuttgart, Germany to Cassis, France, without stopping to charge. It headed to England and broke its own record by about 125 miles in June. It is intended to remain a prototype, a demonstration of technology that is not designed or suitable for mass production, but it will give Mercedes-Benz engineers more than bragging rights. Many of the lessons learned over the course of the project will affect the electric cars the German company plans to release in the late 2020s.

I went to Germany to drive the EQXX and chatted with some of the people who developed it.

Mercedes kick off the EQXX project in 2020. The only motto it gave to the men and women it was tasked with was to find a way to cross the 1,000 km mark. Projects like these aren’t common, but a glance at the company’s history confirms that they’re not uncommon either. We’ve seen a number of high-tech proof-of-concept type tests carried out in Stuttgart, including Auto 2000 from 1981. While many previous projects have focused on safety, EQXX’s emphasis is on scope. start with an empty media.

“Effective in the times” tram Sievers said. “You need to improve in every area. Everything that has a weight needs to be lighter, everything that transfers power needs to be more efficient, and everything on the outside needs to be as aerodynamic as possible.” Several departments have teamed up to make it happen.

The most important factor affecting efficiency, and in turn range, is aerodynamic drag. Designer get a drag coefficient of 0.17 while retaining the shape of a car (rather than a wheeled rocket), which is remarkable. For comparison, the most aerodynamic mass-produced car Mercedes has ever released is EQS . electric sedan, the drag coefficient is 0.20. For example, jumping from 0.30 to 0.20 requires a lot of effort but it’s not too complicated. The jump from 0.20 to 0.17 is smaller but it’s a significant challenge. It makes the EQXX an EV: It doesn’t need a grille, which increases drag, to direct cooling airflow into the engine bay. Active aerodynamics also come into play, such as the rear diffuser that lowers and expands automatically or manually via the touchscreen menu.

Making the powertrain as efficient as possible requires addressing a number of hurdles. Power for the EQXX comes from a rear-mounted motor that draws its electricity from lithium-ion under 100 kilowatt-hours the battery rear wheel package with a capacity of 201 horsepower. It’s a unit called the eATS 2.0 internally, and it’s currently being developed for the next generation of Mercedes-Benz EVs that will launch in the late 2020s.

“We took it apart completely, looked at every aspect of it, and optimized it as much as we could,” says Sievers. His team has achieved an efficiency rating of 95%, which means that 95% of the energy stored in the battery pack goes to the wheels. For comparison, EQS posts an efficiency rating of about 90%.

Solar panels built into the roof help conduct electricity to the battery pack. They add weight, but the trade-off is worth it. As the EQXX covered the 747 miles separating Stuttgart and Silverstone, England, the 117 solar cell setup contributed about 26 miles of driving range.

Speaking of weight, reducing it is a proven way to improve performance. The EQXX lifts the scale at 3,858 pounds, which is an impressive number for an EV. Mercedes-Benz has harnessed its vast Formula 1 expertise to achieve that number.

“The high-performance powertrain, which powers the Formula 1 team, built the battery and inverter,” Sievers said. “On the Formula 1 side, our team has engineers who specialize in carbon fiber and they supplied parts like the battery cover as well as the subframe that the motor resides in.”

The powertrain was ready in front of the bodywork, so the engineers stuffed it inside an EQB-based test mule they nicknamed Emma to get it through its paces. The champagne bottle cap taped to the underside of the hood marks Emma’s important achievements, like the day it moved under its own power for the first time.

Since the EQXX is a one-time prototype, it’s easy to assume it’s as empty inside as the Nevada desert. Not so right. Engineers and designers played a game of tug-of-war until they decided on an elegant, well-thought-out and minimalist layout to keep the weight off. The multifunction steering wheel and center console have a trellis-like outline, the air vents are fitted with transparent slats, and the dashboard is dominated by a wide screen that provides key information about the vehicle. vehicle, powertrain and surroundings. There are also air conditioning, 1970s style wigs floor matsand fabric door handles can also come from one of these Porsche hybrid RS models.

Overall, the EQXX’s interior is similar to a car modelbut not too future. However, some small details remind you that you are sitting in a handcrafted prototype. For example, fixed door mirrors. The rear doors do not open, although there are two separate rows of rear seats and no rearview mirror.

When I started taking part in the network of roads that ran through Mercedes-Benz’s Immendingen test center, a small-town complex formerly used by the German military for tank testing, I realized It turns out that the EQXX is clearly built with drivability in mind. Driving was much easier and less daunting than I thought it would be. It’s pretty quick, almost completely silent, and smooth; it almost looks like a mass produced car. My wish is to scratch “floor it!” Friedemann Flache, one of the engineers working on the EQXX project and one of four motorists who stumbled upon it from Stuttgart to Cassis.

Riding a shotgun as I navigated the 10-mile run, he reminded me that the best way to get the most out of it is to drive with slow, steady pedal input and use the regenerative brake system to get the most out of the powertrain. One of the tricks incorporated into the EQXX is a fourth level of reproducibility that isn’t available on mass-produced Mercedes models – at least not yet. Called the D–, it makes pure one-pedal driving possible, including slowing down the EQXX to a full stop when downhill.

Mastering it almost requires learning how to drive again. On the same hill, I do a D– using the paddle located to the left of the steering wheel until the EQXX loses too much momentum, flicking the right paddle into D- or D to accelerate degrees and back to D– when I want to slow down. I tried going down a hill, turning right, into a roundabout and finding my way out again without using the pedals.

The fourth regenerative profile, D+, allows the EQXX to move without using energy or slowing down. This is where the drag coefficient of 0.17 comes in. My first loop around the course was in the Emma prototype, which combined the EQXX’s powertrain with the EQB’s tall, boxy body (Mercedes pegged the regular production model’s drag coefficient to 0.28 ). On a slight downhill slope at Emma, ​​I stayed at D+ for a few seconds before swerving off it because I was losing speed. In EQXX, I was in D+ the whole time.

What happens if you drive the EQXX like a normal car? It is also quite effective. About half way through, I drove it carefully and leisurely, like I was driving my own Mercedes, the diesel-powered 1979 300D with a four-speed shifter. Neither is designed for racing, but I’m not trying smile My whole way to the Guinness record. Flache and I checked the data that the EQXX compiled during my time behind the wheel and it showed an average consumption of 8.86 kilowatt-hours per 100 kilometers (about 62 miles). To provide the necessary context, Flache and his co-drivers scored averages of 8.7 on the trip to Cassis and 8.3 on the way to Silverstone. This is where engineering can come into the EQXX where it really shines: Without really trying, I’d be close to the average performance achieved by the people who designed this car.

“We are not going to have these things removed by the thousands tomorrow. Sievers said. So, does this mean EQXX is aimed at the god of automotive history. It may reappear at a car show or in the Mercedes museum, but one will not see the light that awaits at the end of the production line. Lessons learned over the course of the project that will permeate a new generation of EVs will be underpinned by an architecture called internal MMA. We’ll see it in 2024 and a new, “luxury entry” addition to the automaker’s range will have the honor of opening it.

Meanwhile, Sievers hopes that EQXX’s influence will resonate far beyond Stuttgart.

“If any of our opponents start thinking this way and start beating us, then I think that would be perfect,” he said. “We love that. This is the kind of arms race you want to be in. “

There is a downside, however.

“It’s never going to be easy to beat this aerodynamically,” says Sievers, “Physics won’t change”.



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