The German Big Three, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi, now all have their own fully-electric SUV. Well, sort of, as neither BMW nor Mercedes-Benz actually have a road-going production version of their electric SUVs. However, they all have their EV SUVs for the near future and all three of them were on display in Paris. Today, we’re going to talk about the Mercedes-Benz EQC.
Mercedes’ new naming scheme for electric cars combines its current naming structure (C, E and S variations) with its new “EQ” naming structure for electric vehicles. So the Mercedes-Benz EQC will be an electric SUV that’s GLC-Class size-ish. It’s a bit longer than the GLC-Class and you can tell by its stretched out C-pillar and window frame. So it will be sized about the same as the BMW iX3, if maybe a bit longer.
There are some criticisms to its design, though. The the front, it looks like a Mercedes GLC that had a literal facelift and a bit too much plastic surgery, like a Beverly Hills divorcée. Out back, it gets a slick looking light bar but that’s about it, as the rest of it is a bit dumpy looking. Overall, it’s not a bad looking car, just an unexciting looking one. If its looks were to be summed up in a word, it’d be “meh”.
Inside, it looks very similar to that of the GLC-Class, just with some bronze air vents and Mercedes’ new Siri-like voice control system. Aside from that, it’s a pretty typical Mercedes interior, which is to be expected, honestly. Though, that’s not a bad thing, as it’s a handsome enough interior, even if it isn’t very electric looking.
Unfortunately, that same sort of “meh” attitude transfers to its powertrain tech. Sure, it has 402 hp from its two electric motors (one at each axle) but it only has about 200 miles of range, which isn’t even as much as the Chevy Bolt. So it seems a bit underwhelming. Admittedly, the BMW iX3 isn’t much better, if at all, but with the Audi e-tron sporting 245 miles of range with even faster charging and going on sale early 2019, it’s hard to see customers getting excited about either the Mercedes-Benz EQC or BMW iX3.