Making the Imaginative and prescient EQXX a benchmark for EV effectivity meant avoiding a downward spiral.
It’s one of many major causes Mercedes-Benz caught to the thought of an air-cooled battery pack within the Imaginative and prescient EQXX idea. Listening to undertaking supervisor Malte Sievers, it’s one of many key choice factors within the undertaking that helped enable it to outperform its unique goal: 1,000 km (621 miles) on a single cost, at real-world speeds.
“Placing the liquid-cooling system into that battery would have began a type of spiral—and you’ll see this with numerous bigger programs,” Sievers defined to Inexperienced Automotive Stories final week, at Mercedes’ Immendingen proving grounds, earlier than I used to be allowed a while within the driver’s seat of this piece of the longer term (and the one such one on Earth).
To sum: Liquid cooling would have added weight and raised the peak of the battery pack. That will have elevated the peak of the car to be able to keep inside area—which might have elevated the frontal space and affected aerodynamics. And that mixed would improve the power required and thus the scale of the battery wanted.
Mercedes-Benz Imaginative and prescient EQXX 1008-km run
Mercedes-Benz Imaginative and prescient EQXX 1008-km run
Mercedes-Benz Imaginative and prescient EQXX 1008-km run
As we’ve already reported, the futuristic Imaginative and prescient EQXX is essentially the most environment friendly automotive that Mercedes-Benz has ever constructed. In April the EQXX did a real-world vary run, overlaying a 746-mile journey from Stuttgart, Germany, to Silverstone, England, on a single cost and with power to spare for some victory laps.
The EQXX will not be a production-bound car in any method. It’s a proof level for a way electrical autos from the automaker is perhaps made extra environment friendly—much more environment friendly—sooner or later.
As Sievers outlined, the EQXX represents an all-hands method, ensuring each piece of the car—together with however not restricted to the propulsion system—took the leanest and most efficiency-minded path potential.
“With a purpose to make this automotive occur and make it essentially the most environment friendly Mercedes we’ve ever constructed, you must have a look at each single space of the automotive that has an influence on effectivity—and that’s mainly every little thing,” he stated.
Mercedes-Benz Imaginative and prescient EQXX Idea
From the cast magnesium 20-inch wheels and slim, specifically developed Bridgestone Turanza Eco tires that have been developed expressly for the EQXX, to glass-fiber-reinforced plastic for the doorways and an aluminum mega-casting on the rear of the car, with integral damper towers, the EQXX is preventing for a unique, extra environment friendly future in all respects.
And once I circled again to ask extra about how Mercedes cools the battery system within the Imaginative and prescient Idea, Sievers quipped, with a smirk: “We actually don’t.”
He’s making a degree. The EQXX battery pack has some very rigorously chosen cells, specified by a method that doesn’t require something greater than exterior air let in. Typically.
Sievers stated that on the proving grounds, in summer time warmth, the EQXX’s pack hasn’t gotten considerably above ambient temperatures—86 levels Fahrenheit whereas we have been talking, with a excessive of 99 levels due for that afternoon. He reported from distant sensing that the pack was at present at 90 levels.
Mercedes-Benz Imaginative and prescient EQXX
As for these cells, Sievers commented that because of enhancements in interior resistance, cells merely don’t warmth up as a lot throughout charging as they used to in earlier generations.
“It does present that there’s quite a bit to be gained, even whereas staying within the at present standard chemistry,” he stated, maybe in a touch of what the automaker is contemplating for these future EVs. “And it’s not all simply strong state; there are all kinds of recent issues simply coming round.”
The EQXX doesn’t eschew cooling utterly, although. There’s water cooling for the electrical drive unit and inverter, plus an oil-water exchanger that helps preserve the motor bearings cool. Shutters that open on the entrance of the car open solely when wanted, permitting a skinny sheet of air to go by previous the battery and people programs, pulling warmth away.
Mercedes-Benz Imaginative and prescient EQXX 1008-km run
Mercedes-AMG Excessive Efficiency Powertrains, which works with Components E and Components 1, designed the inverter for the automotive, which runs on a “plus-900-volt system.” The inverter has numerous Components E learnings in-built and is a key half for a way the general effectivity of the electrical drivetrain is 95% from cell to wheel. The inverter, Sievers stated, appears to be like “drastically completely different from something we’ve achieved thus far.”
“Mainly we’re chasing each watt right here,” stated Julien Pillas, a lead engineer who labored particularly on the electrical drive system.
A lot of the drive-system growth for the EQXX, which began in 2020, was achieved on an EQB nicknamed Emma—for the upcoming MMA platform. Due across the center of the last decade with fashions roughly the scale of the Tesla Mannequin 3 and Mannequin Y, that platform will reap a few of the advantages of the EQXX undertaking.
Emma, the event mule crossover, weighs almost 5,300 kilos—versus lower than 3,900 kilos for the EQXX. However it has the EQXX’s air-cooled pack mounted under—with 100 kwh supplied from simply 1,089 kilos.
Mercedes EQB with EQXX battery and drive programs –
I bought to take a spin in Emma first, on a closed course, to get a really feel of the interface and the calibration of the accelerator and brakes, that are precisely the identical because the EQXX (albeit with that further mass). A part of that concerned getting conversant in the regenerative braking, which is much extra aggressive than in Mercedes’ present electrical autos—retaining the modes starting from D- (reasonable regen) to D+ (gliding) however including a “D–” mode that permits one-pedal driving with out a brake maintain. Maintaining essentially the most environment friendly within the EQXX additionally concerned retaining mild on the accelerator and staying inside a 25-kw energy band.
Within the proving grounds crawling with engineers, they have been retaining telemetry on us. So I used to be in a position to examine in on effectivity—and much more—for my drives. Over a loop of about 16 km (10 miles)—overlaying a variety of terrain and speeds as much as 100 km/h (62 mph) and averaging about 50 km/h (30 mph)—I averaged 12.1 kwh/100 km (5.1 miles/kwh) in Emma, which is almost double the effectivity I’d seen in a country-road loop within the EQB earlier that day.
That was proving the price of the drive system. Now I headed out in the actual factor—the EQXX with its lovely aero physique and 0.17 coefficient of drag.
I slid into the mushroom-based vegan leather-alternative seats and pull the Biosteel fiber door strap, adjusting the seat, and located it’s really fairly comfy for my long-legged 6-foot-6 body.
Mercedes-Benz Imaginative and prescient EQXX
The EQXX felt perkier for positive, and I discovered myself driving sooner than within the SUV mule, requiring fixed consideration of the speedometer to maintain throughout the proving grounds’ pace zones. Whereas I heard the whine of the drive programs and a little bit little bit of street noise, there was almost no wind noise—the payoff of the aero.
After a little bit enjoyable after the effectivity loop, I bought an opportunity to faucet into the complete 180 kw (241 hp) and confirm that communicative steering and a really low heart of mass make this fairly a enjoyable car to drive quick.
Effectivity for EQXX drive
After which, a last tally. Within the EQXX, I’d averaged 8.39 kwh/100 km—about 7.4 miles per kwh, or about 45% higher than what I noticed in Emma. Or roughly double the space on the identical kwh than I’d have the ability to cowl in most comparatively environment friendly EVs on sale immediately.
One curious piece of the EQXX effectivity puzzle is photo voltaic. Within the EQXX, it runs solely into the 12-volt system, with no avenue for the power to achieve the traction battery. Peak energy of the system is about 600 watts, with potential for the system to realize about 16 miles of vary over a complete day.
Mercedes-Benz Imaginative and prescient EQXX
Sievers admits that’s not essentially the choice they’d make in a manufacturing mannequin—like omitting the onboard charger. However for the EQXX and its range-run functions, it made the most effective sense and freed up the traction battery for high-voltage use—with occasional operating of a DC-DC converter when wanted. Within the EQXX, the warmth pump is run off the high-voltage system, however the remainder of the local weather management system, the steering, management items, infotainment system, and extra are all run off 12 volts.
Likewise, the EQXX wasn’t constructed for fast-charging. Though its air-cooled pack can cost at a decent 140 kw with out warmth buildup—sufficient to realize 186 miles of vary in quarter-hour.
“We’re not making an attempt to indicate that quick charging is flawed,” stated Sievers. “Whereas going for effectivity we discovered after the truth that this really does assist with charging fairly a bit—that is the enjoyable engineering facet of this, that we’re really discovering out new issues we didn’t see coming.”
Though these with the undertaking hesitate to present any extra hints about what precisely would possibly make it into the manufacturing MMA electrical autos, we’ll take that as one of many hints.
Mercedes-Benz Imaginative and prescient EQXX
In some respects the EQXX is that this decade’s VW XL1, as a hyper-efficiency poster automotive. Though VW constructed the superlight diesel-hybrid XL1 in a really small quantity, similar to the EQXX it was supposed as a know-how moonshot.
That stated, after diving into why the EQXX exists—and driving it—I can say that despite the fact that the EQXX will not be produced, it means much more in serving to to information a technology of EVs away from that downward spiral.
–Mercedes-Benz supplied transportation and lodging in order that we might carry you this check drive evaluation.
