No gimmicks, no bragging, pure electric vehicle 1000 km endurance said it will come.
At the end of 2021, the debate on electric vehicles and oil vehicles has not yet dissipated, and in the past few years, Mercedes-Benz has occupied the cover of major automotive sectors with a new pure electric concept car EQXX (hereinafter referred to as EQXX) with a range of more than 1,000 kilometers. If the "oil to electricity" series released by Mercedes-Benz before also needs to attract customers through the century-old Mercedes-Benz brand, then on EQXX, it will completely rely on full of technology to win people's hearts.
In the EQXX parameter list, the most eye-catching data is its pure electric range of 1000 km. In 2021, we have seen a number of pure electric models that claim to be able to exceed 1000 kilometers of endurance, but the practice is undoubtedly to increase the battery size and increase the battery energy density to increase the endurance. Although this method is simple, the large-size battery pack is doomed to not be installed on the smaller model of the size level, and the heavier battery pack will also increase the weight of the vehicle, thus affecting the actual endurance, so that the vehicle endurance falls into a cycle of strange circles.
EQXX does not use the practice of superimposing battery packs, but through technological breakthroughs, from solving the fundamental problem of electric vehicle endurance, to achieve a pure electric endurance of 1000 kilometers.
The first is to start with the wind resistance coefficient. In daily long-distance driving, nearly two-thirds of the power of ordinary electric vehicles is used to overcome air resistance. In order to reduce the impact of wind resistance on the battery life of electric vehicles, EQXX uses an ultra-smooth design to achieve a wind resistance coefficient as low as 0.17.
In the past, achieving ultra-low drag coefficients needed to be based on design compromises, and in order for EQXX to balance aerodynamics and design, EQXX's designers borrowed from Mercedes-Benz's IAA aerodynamic concept car design released in 2015 to create an elegant and stretched body curved surface. On this basis, EQXX also has a number of active and passive aerodynamic details. For example, the flat front face design, active air intake grille, and air diversion channel on the engine cover can minimize air resistance.
On the side of the body, ultra-low roll-off tires and 20-inch lightweight magnesium alloy forged wheels also optimize the resistance generated when the vehicle is driving. The rear part of the car is the deepest place to retain the shadow of the IAA concept car, under the large area of through-type taillights, hidden in the retractable rear diffuser, at high speed when the diffuser will open on its own, after the diffuser is put away, it can be seamlessly integrated into the body, integrating design, aerodynamics and engineering technology.
The problem of wind resistance is solved, and the second is to focus on energy consumption control. EQXX's engineers adhered to the principle of "no waste, no shortage" to reduce energy consumption and loss through system design, material selection, lubrication and thermal management, which ultimately enabled the concept car to achieve 95% energy efficiency, which also means that up to 95% of the battery energy will eventually be directly transmitted to the wheels.
In contrast, even the most efficient drivetrains for combustion engines achieve only 30 percent energy efficiency. Ultra-high energy efficiency brings ultra-low energy consumption, Mercedes-Benz official said that EQXX 100 km of energy consumption is less than 10 kWh, equivalent to more than 6 miles per kWh of cruising range (about 9.7 km), if this expression is not intuitive enough, then take some common examples in life, 10 kWh of energy can support ordinary household air conditioning for about 3 hours, or use an iron for 5 hours, or support large sports venues to turn on conventional floodlights for about 3 minutes. With such a low energy consumption to support an electric vehicle to travel 100 kilometers, Mercedes-Benz's deep heritage in electrification is impressive.
Then there's the most important one, the battery. Just now we also mentioned that Mercedes-Benz did not choose the simple stacking of battery packs, but developed a new battery pack, its energy density of up to 400Wh/L, which also makes the power battery energy density of pure electric vehicles reach a new height. This has been followed by a significant reduction in the size of the battery pack, which has been halved and 30% lighter than the previously released EQS, which means that the pack can be placed in models with lower dimensions. It is reported that the significant increase in energy density is partly due to the rapid development of the anode chemical process. Thanks to higher silicon content and advanced composition, these types of cells can store more energy than conventional batteries.
In addition to this, to reduce energy consumption on high-voltage systems, EQXX has added a solar panel to power lights, infotainment systems and other auxiliary equipment. Under single-day and ideal conditions, the system can increase the length of long-distance travel by 25 kilometers.
Although more and more countries have formulated detailed carbon neutrality plans, charging infrastructure that has not been widely popularized is still a constraint on the current road to the development of pure electric vehicles. During this period, the longer the range of pure electric vehicles, the better the experience will be for users. In this regard, although independent brands and new power brands are also actively exploring, but due to insufficient technical accumulation, "stacking batteries" is still a common practice to achieve long endurance. In contrast, Mercedes-Benz's exploration of electric vehicle endurance is more innovative, through technological breakthroughs, comprehensive reduction of wind resistance, improvement of energy efficiency and improvement of battery energy density and other multiple ways, all-round service vehicle mileage increase, will also provide more practical valuable experience for subsequent mass production.