SUV uses big brain to save its battery
The 2020 EQC is slick and technologically advanced, offering glimpse of an electrified future
The first of MercedesBenz’s EQ-branded electric rides is the EQC. It picks up on the normal naming strategy and lines up with the gas-powered GLC.
It’s the first of 10 all-electric vehicles the company will launch by 2022; Smart is the second in the long-term plan. The original Generation EQ Concept was a futuristic looking thing that was kind of ungainly, but the production model is sleek and will not be mistaken for its forerunner.
Given the EQC’s closest competitors, the Audi e-tron and Jaguar I-Pace, the numbers are right where they should be. The EQC uses an 80 kWh, water-cooled, lithium-ion battery developed in-house, and two electric motors. The combination delivers a claimed driving range of 400-450 kilometres. The difference in the numbers lies in the testing method. For the record, the EQC has an average consumption rate of 22.2 kW of power for every 100 km driven.
The two water-cooled asynchronous electric motors — one driving each axle — are each rated at 201 horsepower and they produce a combined output of 564 pound-feet of instant torque. The front motor is designed for efficiency and the rear for power — for the techies, it all lies in the number of windings within each motor.
The operating strategy is clever. Under normal driving conditions, the more efficient front motor does almost all of the driving. The rear motor is there for two reasons: it provides the grunt work when the driver tromps on the accelerator, and it gives the EQC fourwheel traction through Mercedes’ 4Matic all-wheeldrive system.
The strategy is aimed at getting the most out of the battery without giving up on either performance or handling. The EQC whirrs its way from zero to 100 km/h in 5.1 seconds and feels supercar-fast whenever the throttle is prodded. While I was only a passenger, I did coax the driver (in a closed-course environment) to give the EQC a serious goose; it hammered hard, and without chirping a single tire.
The underlying electronics have a PhD-like brain in orchestrating things. The instant the “brain” picks up on a wayward tendency, it changes the power split — 100 per cent to the front, 100 to the rear, or anything in between.
The speed of this action leaves a conventional brakebased stability control system looking like a dial-up internet connection. Of course, if the electric motor input is not enough to right the wrong, it turns to the brakes as a secondary method of calming the EQC down.
After some gentle coaxing, the driver demonstrated how agile the EQC is when a driver pulls “dumb” stunts; there was virtually no understeer despite the accelerator being goosed at the turn-in point, and the tires remained quiet. Yes, there was a little howling protest, but the system gathered things up quickly and did so in a very refined manner. The suspension also did a very good job of keeping the EQC level in extremely abrupt manoeuvres.
A big part of the driving range comes from the ability to harvest otherwise wasted energy. By using steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters, the driver can change the amount of regenerative braking to suit the drive. The range runs from D Plus (D+), which basically delivers no “engine” braking whatsoever, to D minus-minus (D- -), which delivers a near one-pedal drive. Between the extremes is D Auto. This, says Mercedes, is the right choice. It not only looks at the driver’s technique to determine the right level of regenerative braking, it also delves into the navigation system to gather topographical information and the way the road is about to twist and turn. It then figures out the best strategy to maximize the capture of energy.
The EQC also uses all of the same information when it’s calculating a driving route. If the planned trip is beyond the vehicle’s driving range, it looks at the charging stations along the way, as well as topographical data to ensure the driver gets from point A to B with the least hassle and shortest amount of time sitting at a charging station. It even looks at the mass of the riders and cargo, and will reconfigure the route to take that into account. The EQC supports DC fast charging, meaning it can get an 80-per-cent charge in 40 minutes. Recharging from a regular 220-volt outlet bumps that time to around 12 hours.
Inside, the EQC is much like any of the company’s other SUVs, with comfortable seating front and rear and lots of cargo capacity and flexibility. The underfloor placement of the battery eliminates any intrusion into usable space. It also employs Mercedes’ nextgen MBUX infotainment system, with a dedicated menu for all electric functions, from setting up a charging schedule and how the power is being distributed, to the battery’s state of charge and remaining driving range.
The Mercedes-Benz EQC hits the road in Europe in the middle of this year, but North America will have to wait until 2020. Pricing and final specifications will arrive in April.