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Nary a year goes by when
Mercedes-Benz doesn’t roll out
a showroom’s worth of new and
updated cars and crossovers, so
many, in fact, that it has essentially
created multiple subbrands to
manage it all: AMG for go-fast,
Maybach for high-end luxury, and
now EQ for electrified.
The all-new 2020 Mercedes-Benz
EQC 400 4Matic marks a first for
the three-pointed star’s emerging
EQ electric vehicle strategy,
ushering in what Benz is billing
as a new era of mobility for the
marque. Like Audi (E-Tron) and
Jaguar (I-Pace), Mercedes decided
to start its electric vehicle push
with a crossover, which makes
sense given that’s where much of
the market action is at present.
Although it’s built on the same line
as the GLC-Class, which itself has
been updated for 2020 and will be
available in coupe and AMG flavors
in addition to the base model, the
EQC is 85 percent its own thing.
Powering the EQC is an 80-kW-
hr lithium-ion battery pack
that delivers the juice to two
asynchronous electric motors that
spin the wheels, one at each axle.
Overall system output is rated
at 402 horsepower and 564 lb-ft
of torque. Although Benz won’t
comment publicly about the EQC’s
EPA-estimated range until closer
to its launch here next spring, the
scuttlebutt is that it will come in
somewhere north of 200 miles to
a full charge.
Mercedes did tell us during our
brief drive of the EQC in Norway
that it will do the electric boogaloo
from 0 to 60 mph in 4.9 seconds,
and we wouldn’t argue with that
number after our time at the
wheel. Overall, we found the EQCON SALE:
EQC: Early 2020
AMG GT R Pro: Late 2019
A/CLA AMG 35: Early 2020
BASE PRICE:
EQC: $75,000 (est)
AMG GT R Pro: $195,000 (est)
A/CLA AMG 35: $37,000/$40,000 (est)Launch of EQC
adds electrification
to the mix
Branding Benz
EQCAMG GTR Pro