Mercedes taps Formula 1 team to produce electric prototype in race with Tesla

Daimler brought in experts from its record-breaking Formula 1 team to produce an electric prototype that may help take the fight to fend off Tesla to the next level.

The EQXX, presented at the CES show in Las Vegas, can drive more than 621 miles with a battery half the size of Mercedes-benz’s EQS, its current flagship electric vehicle, the manufacturer said Monday. The sedan’s battery technology is set to be deployed in the company’s compact cars from 2024.

“This isn’t a show car but a protagonist for technology development,” Markus Schaefer, Daimler’s head of development and procurement, said in an interview.

Mercedes has a goal of only selling fully electric cars by 2030 where possible and has vowed to defend its position as the world’s biggest luxury carmaker with an accelerated 40 billion euro ($45 billion) spending plan.