Mercedes-Benz Vision EQXX is one wild-looking 1000km electric range concept

It was back in July 2021 when Mercedes-Benz first touted that it was making an electric vehicle concept – the Vision EQXX – capable of delivering over 1000km or 620 miles of range per charge.

But we never knew it was going to be quite as wild-looking as this. The Vision EQXX really is a visual mash-up of Mercedes’ heritage, young and old, road and sport, in concept form.

Although, clearly, it’s a prelude of what’s to come: during the CES 2022 unveil, Mercedes-Benz’ Chief Design Officer, Gorden Wagener, announced that a road-legal version will prove its 1000km efficiency in “spring 2022”.

So how does the Vision EQXX achieve such high figures? Mercedes worked with its Formula 1 team to develop a new, smaller battery – but, notably, not one that’s of a greater capacity. The cell in the EQXX holds 100kWh of charge, but is 50 per cent smaller and 30 per cent lighter than the one you’ll find in the Mercedes EQS.

Combine that with a super-low drag coefficient (0.17) given the aerodynamic form, a redesigned drivetrain, a software-driven approach to efficiency, and solar panels on the car’s roof to add supplementary energy and you’ve got a long-range master on your hands.

There’s plenty else here to draw in your interest too: from sustainable materials used inside – vegan silk door pulls or bamboo fibre carpets, anyone? – to the one-piece display to handle the infotainment system.

That the team brought this concept to life – whether you like to look of its super-long tail or not – in just 18 months is rather remarkable.