Future of EQ... dreamy electric halo car... new retrofuturist droptop planned

You’d think the last thing on the priority list of top managers would be low-volume, high-end niche models. But halo cars are the salt in an increasingly thin soup of me-too products devoid of truly significant USPs. Mercedes is now actively embracing the category of future electric trend-setters.

The one-o EQXX, bound for January’s Consumer Electronics show, will soon demonstrate what can be achieved when R&D is prepared to pull out all the stops, irrespective of cost and feasibility. Why? Because, right now, the focus is very much on EVs and thus on advanced batteries, software, drivetrains and design, even if the EQ prefix becomes dispensable at the end of the decade when most of Merc’s range is electric anyway.

One of those new models is a two-seater designed to merge two of the brightest stars in Merc’s history: the 300SL Gullwing (pictured) and the experimental Wankel-engined C111. Both involved eye-catching door concepts which may reappear in motorised insect-wing form. Both originals also had radical styling that could be remixed to take advantage of today’s aerodynamic know-how, with the possibility of on-demand enhanced downforce and an airbrake. But mere retro-futurism in design won’t su ce – expect a mix of AMG and Merc componentry with Level 4 ‘hands o ’ capability.

The definitive EQ package is yet to be defined. We’re led to believe the target vehicle attempts to recreate both the estate car and the conventional upright SUV, likely based on the mid-size version of the scalable new MBEA platform. Low solid-state batteries would create the seating position of a sporty crossover, while other rumoured highlights include select morphing body panels. Watch this space.