Time spent in Sweden have proven them (trust)worthy.
Arjeplog may not, on the surface, seem like much of a motoring town. Set in the deep north of Sweden, it’s proximity to the Arctic Circle means that temperatures can drop to -35ºC at the height of winter, and is one of the most hirsute populated low-temperature environments out there.
You'd think weather like that would put off motorists. However, car companies have flocked there by the busloads to conduct winter-weather testing of their upcoming cars. Because if it can survive in Arjeplog, it can survive anywhere.
Mercedes-Benz is no exception, and they’ve even gone through the trouble of setting up a dedicated testing facility in Arjeplog (like many others), and have brought their development cars up here for the longest time. And while the sun may be setting (slowly) on internal combustion motors, the testing rigours haven’t eased, with ‘alternative propulsion’ cars being subject to the same arduous, torturous testing regiment as their fading internal-combustion forebears.
To that end, the latest two Mercs to find themselves wading into the snow were the GLC F-Cell, a hydrogen fuel-cell variation of Stuttgart’s very pretty compact SUV, as well as the EQ C, a similarly-sized compact SUV that will not only be battery-electric, but will also launch Mercedes-Benz’s new all-electric sub-brand ‘EQ.’
Both cars were hit by the full gamut of winter-weather tests as demanded of all Mercedes-Benz vehicles, with over 500 different areas evaluated to ensure reliability and uncompromised performance. Fully utilising the environment there, Mercedes will put their development cars through their paces on sheer ice of the frozen lakes and the packed ice. The EQ C and GLC F-Cell were both expected not only to survive these conditions but to excel in them, and considering how happy Mercedes-Benz appear to be, they must’ve done so swimmingly.
Focusing on the EQ C, it’ll be the very first Mercedes-Benz model to be built atop a new modular electric-vehicle platform called ‘EVA.’ EVA has been designed to incorporate the battery cells in central placements throughout the platform, and can pack as much as 110kWh within. The EQ C, when it arrives in 2019, will come up as a rival to cars like the Tesla Model X, the Audi E-Tron, and the just-launched Jaguar I-Pace (that you can buy today).
What we know so far is based heavily on the Generation EQ concept that came some time ago, which was said to preview the production EQ C rather accurately. The Generation EQ concept packed a 70kWh battery, and touted a range of up to 500km on a single charge. With two electric motors, positioned on either axle, the Generation EQ boasted 300kW of power and 700Nm of twist, as well as wireless induction charging.
The EVA platform, after the EQ C, will go on to expand the EQ range considerably. If trademark applications are any indication, we can expect to see an EQ E, EQ G, and EQ S in due course. And if the EQ C is enough of a hint, we predict that the rest of the EQ range will ape the conventional Mercedes-Benz passenger car range.
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