Mercedes-Benz EQC Basks in the Spotlight at 2018 Paris Auto Show
Mercedes’s first-ever EV is set to be the first EQ sub-brand model to go into production in 2019.
For years, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and Tesla have dominated the mass production of performance luxury electric vehicles. And while they were innovators in that space from the start, stagnation has now set in at a time where more established players want in on the action.
Mercedes-Benz is one of those players. They did build the first automobile anyone actually wanted to drive, after all. Why should they let some brainiac whose head is in the stars (and whose feet are currently in major legal trouble) keep dominating the scene? Thus, Mercedes unveiled the 2020 EQC crossover to the world at the 2018 Paris Auto Show, and Car and Bike was there for it.
The EQC is not only MB’s first-ever production-ready electric vehicle, but is also the first model to be sold under Mercedes’ brand-new EQ sub-brand. Assembly for the crossover will begin sometime in 2019 in Bremen, Germany, while battery packs will be shipped over from MB’s battery plant in Kamenz, Germany. Waiting at the factory gates will not only be eager Mercedes EQ fans, but the EQC’s rivals, the Jaguar I-PACE, and the Audi e-tron.
The new EQC wouldn’t look out of place next to the likes of the GLA, though instead of gas or diesel power, the electric crossover uses a front-rear dual-motor 4MATIC arrangement anchored by an 80 kWh lithium battery pack. The output for this powertrain amounts to 402 horses and 564 lb-ft of torque, and a total range of around 250 miles. Quick-charging will be an available option to help owners get back on the road as quickly as those who fill up on gas or diesel.
The EQC is set to hit showrooms later in 2019 as a 2020 model, though no word thus far on when the U.S. market will receive theirs.
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