Mercedes Sets New Range Mark for EVs

A prototype Mercedes-Benz all-electric EQXX has broken through the 1000-kilometer range barrier for the first time on a single charge. The vehicle set the new record on April 5 on a 1008-km tour from Germany via the Swiss Alps and northern Italy to the French Côte d’Azur.

The EQXX needed only 8.7 kilowatts per 100 kilometers, reported business newspaper Handelsblatt. The carmaker’s head of development Markus Schäfer compared the new record to a “minor Mars landing,” calling the result “absolutely remarkable” and “truly sensational.”

Mercedes says the next step will be to achieve that sort of efficiency in a mass-produced model, which would require a 100 percent improvement over current levels of electricity consumption. The carmaker has set 2024 as a date for reaching that goal. Improving range is seen as one of the keys to overcoming resistance among some drivers toward electric vehicles.