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First ride in Mercedes-Benz EQC 400 prototype
Phuti Mpyane gets a sneak preview of upcoming electric SUV at a hot-weather testing session in Pretoria
It has been four months since the Mercedes-Benz EQC 400 made its debut at the Paris Motor Show. This is where Mercedes-Benz confirmed is intentions to bring the company’s first all-electric Mercedes-Benz product to SA. Then, I was only allowed to sit in it. Fast forward to last week, still before the official SA launch, and I’m experiencing a passenger ride in a near-production ready prototype on local soil. Five-point-one seconds to 100km/h, a top speed of 180km/h and about 450km of pure electric driving range is assured. It will realise all these numbers by using a new-generation, 384-cell lithium ion battery pack situated between the two axles. Peak voltage is 408V and a capacity of 210Ah for an energy content of 80kWh driving a pair of asynchronous motors with a system total output of 300kW and 765Nm. The team has been in the country for a few weeks hot-weather testing the pair of mules. The prototypes are so near production that we may very well have experienced the final versi...
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