Mercedes might have blown a huge electric sports car lead, and its new electric van gets less than 161 km of range. But today Mercedes revealed a bit more in the works, with electric versions of the S-Class, E-Class, GLA, GLB, GLE, and GLS as well.
The S-Class version, called the EQS, will get an SUV as well, as will the E-Class electric called the EQE. The other two of the six new fully-electric cars will be the GLA version, called the EQA, and the GLB one, called, you guessed it, EQB. This is all in addition to the previously announced EQC. (If all the nomenclature is confusing to you, try to think of it in terms of size, as Mercedes’ line of cars starts at the “smallest” — the A-Class, and then progressively gets bigger in alphabetical order. The prefixes also help, EQ- being its electric line, GL- being its SUV line, SL being its roadsters, etc.)
The new cars will be based on a platform Mercedes says it will introduce next year. It also gave some numbers:
At the same time, the company will continue to electrify the most successful platforms. In addition to the EQC mid-size SUV (EQC 400 4MATIC, combined power consumption: 21.3-20.2 kWh/100 km; weighted CO2 emissions: 0 g/km)[1] and the all-electric EQV people carrier (EQV 300, combined power consumption: 26.4-26.3 kWh/100 km; combined CO2 emissions: 0 g/km)1, customers in the compact car segment can look forward to two all-electric SUVs, the EQA and EQB. Their progressive design identifies them as members of the all-electric product range. Production of the EQA will commence before the end of this year.
Mercedes says that it already tested the EQS over more than a million kilometres, though it’s keeping a lot of other numbers under wraps for now. It did say that it expected the EQS to get up to 692 km of range under WLTP testing standards, though that number will likely dip below 644 km when tested by the EPA.
Mercedes also released photos of the cars in camouflage, along with the following video that shows the cars moving:
Mercedes has a lot of catching up to do, and I’d guess a big part of why they are pushing so hard now is to comply with European emissions regulations. But, regardless, more electric cars are never a bad thing.