What's the news?
Mercedes-Benz wants to have a much bigger electric vehicles (EV) presence in the 2020s and its sub-brand will be EQ. We already know the crossover EQC that was shown in Paris last year will be the first out of the blocks for Mercedes in 2019, but here's what the company thinks its A-Class-sized EV might look like - and it's called the Concept EQA.
Making its debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show this week, the Concept EQA is an evolution of Mercedes' 'Sensual Purity' design language, which means less edges and more curves. The EQA's sleek body is peppered with laser-fibre lights and nowhere is the exterior illumination more impressive than in that black-panel 'virtual radiator grille', which depicts a horizontal flaming wing if the EV is in Sport mode and then turns into the vertical struts of a Panamericana grille when the EQA steps up to Sport Plus.
Power comes from a pair of electric motors that can deliver more than 200kW (272hp) to all corners of the car via permanent four-wheel drive. Those aforementioned Sport and Sport Plus modes offer different front-to-rear torque distribution to provide a choice of individual driving characteristics.
A lithium-ion battery with pouch cells, supplied by Daimler's Deutsche Accumotive subsidiary, have more than 60kWh of storage density and so the EQA is said to be capable of around 400km on a single charge. Speaking of which, re-juicing the Mercedes can be done either via a wallbox at home, through rapid charging points out in public, or even inductively at wireless recharge points.
EQ, the EV sub-brand for Mercedes, stands for 'Electric Intelligence' and is a play on Benz's brand values of 'emotion and intelligence'.
Anything else?
"With the Mercedes-Benz Concept EQA, our electric initiative is gathering pace: by 2022 Mercedes-Benz Cars will have more than ten all-electric vehicles on the market," said Dr Dieter Zetsche, CEO of Daimler AG and head of Mercedes-Benz Cars.
Alongside the EQA in Frankfurt will be the Smart Vision EQ Fortwo.