We’re just weeks away from the unveiling of Porsche’s Taycan electric super-saloon, Aston Martin’s new Rapide E packs over 600bhp, and even Tesla’s cheapest car can accelerate faster than your average Ferrari.
The electrification era is upon us, and it’s the duty of whisper-quiet luxury cruisers and mind-bendingly quick performance saloons to convince us to abandon conventional fuels.
So you might think that Mercedes’ second electric production passenger vehicle, the EQV, is neither as scene-stealing, nor as important, as some of the cars mentioned above. It is, after all, a van-based MPV, and most likely to be seen ferrying people to or from an airport.
Mercedes-Benz EQV is 252-mile range premium electric MPV
But where electric sports cars will build interest from the masses for zero-emissions transport, it will fall to everyday stalwarts like the new EQV to actually enact a change at ground level. You have only to gaze upon the endless rows of conventionally fuelled Mercedes-Benz V-Class, Sprinter and Vito models parked outside airport departure halls worldwide, to gain a sense of the potential of the EQV.
With a range of 252 miles, flexible seating and quick-charging capabilities, the EQV is a taxi driver’s dream. It’s feasible that the new EV could capably emulate the daily routine of its V-Class forebear; 500 miles in a day sounds reasonable, and lunch breaks would allow enough time to prepare the battery pack for an afternoon’s tour of the M25 (where regenerative braking, as anyone who uses the route will testify, will be used to full effect).
Benjamin Kaehler, head of Mercedes-Benz Vans' eDrive initiative, says the EQV is ready to take over immediately from its conventionally fuelled counterparts. He said: “The taxi drivers we’ve spoken to do roughly between 250-300km (155-186 miles) per day and some of them do more, but then they have to take a lunch break anyway.
Join the debate
Add your comment
Game changer my backside
Game changer my backside
Only in terms that they've got the balls to charge 60k for a van with seats
Laughable
£60k isn't too far out to be honest
I doubt it is really a
I doubt it is really a massive change given that the new London cab LEVC is a 31KWH plug in hybrid.
The biggest issues are:
1: Only Tesla has a seemless charging infrastructure
2: Lots of people are announcing new electric cars, none of these people has production capabilities of beyond ~25,000 per annum for the next few years.
This will only be significant if Mercedes can actually manufacture enough cells.
As Scrap said, There is a
As Scrap said, There is a never ending convoy of white vans delivering from home to home. White van man needs a EV van and get diesel out of the urban areas. This should be where EVs target to start with. Get the seats out of this posh van and fill it with Amazon boxes instead