The new concept from Mercedes, the EQXX, is the most startling graceful VISION that has emerged from the automaker since the EQS appeared in 2019.
The new VISION recalls similarly fluid automotive dreams developed by Merc designers in the past five years or so: the VISION 6 and VISION 6 CABRIOLET, which the automaker brought to Pebble Beach in 2016 and 2017, respectively. Long of nose and languid of rear gradient, the 6 duo managed to reconcile Golden Age extravagance of form with EV pragmatism, and conflate a hundred years or so of Merc history in the bargain.
In shape, the EQXX boasts a bit more formal brevity than such fleeting figureheads, and may well signal a shape of production Mercs to come. It has a snub nose, a raked windscreen degree, and a fastback roofline with a prominent U-shaped lip as a terminus. This VISION concept, however, is less philosophical eye-candy than tech statement. Long-haul efficiency gets top billing in the EQXX vision. The ‘software-driven’ model would use under 10 kWh every 62 miles, and capable of traveling 620 miles between charges.
Another watchword for the designers was sustainability; not surprising, as sustainability is the present-tense moral drycleaner for the automotive industry. Mercedes, under the auspices of bionic engineering, promises ‘innovative recycled and plant-based materials’, thermal recycling, and material efficiency in the EQXX by taking cues from a few of the more salient paradigms in the natural world. Rooftop solar panels help the concept’s range, while 3D-printed components, and a lightweight subframe and braking system, keep weight down. Wheels and tires are designed for better aerodynamics and less resistance on the road.
Inside the VISION EQXX, a vegan leather called Mylo and biomaterial called Deserttex can be found, while carpets are all-bamboo. Mercedes combines the car’s AI-driven assistance suite, ‘UI/UX’, with ‘neuromorphic computing’; the company claims up to ten times the efficiency of present-tense voice control, and less dueling with AI along the way.
