Features
6 mai 19

€60,000 for the entry-level Mercedes EQC – which is sold out

Mercedes hit the start button for the production of its long-awaited all-electric EQC in Bremen today. Interesting, and so is the official price tag: in Germany, it will cost a bit less than €60,000 excluding VAT (71,281 including 19% of value-added tax), making it eligible for an environmental bonus on its domestic market.

For that amount you get 471 electric NEDC kilometres of range at best. The battery contains 80kWh-worth of lithium ion cells which are drained at a speed of about 20kWh for every 100km driven. Strangely, Mercedes still does not communicate WLTP figures. By way of comparison: the Jaguar I-Pace has a 90kWh-battery and gets you 543km from home under NEDC conditions, or 470km if you follow the stricter WLTP protocol.

The British crossover is more expensive, though: you will have to dig an extra €6,000+VAT out of your pocket to call yourself an I-Pace owner.

Sold out in 2019

Contrary to most of its competitors, Mercedes makes its own batteries. They are produced by wholly owned Daimler subsidiary Accumotive at its site in Kamenz (near Dresden). “Local battery production is a major success factor in the electric initiative of Mercedes-Benz Cars”, the press release reads. Other OEMs are struggling to get their hands on sufficient batteries to keep up with demand.

But so is Mercedes, at least in the start-up year of the EQC – and perhaps even in 2020. In February, CEO Dieter Zetsche told Welt Online that “We are sure that we will not be able to meet the demand in 2019 and probably not by 2020.”

In short, if you order an EQC now, you are unlikely to receive it before Q2 2020. Audi is reportedly able to ship you an e-tron in 6 to 8 months, depending on the market, and you can get behind the wheel of your very own I-Pace 4 to 6 months after signing the order form.

Making e-life easier

When they finally get their hands on an EQC, German customers can opt for a "Holiday Mobility Package", kind of a mobility budget to be spent on the rental of a traditional combustion-engine car at Mercedes-Benz Rent. That way, customers can travel further distances in areas that do not yet have sufficient charging infrastructure.

The mobility package will be simple to redeem at Mercedes-Benz EQ partners, tailored according to individual needs. EQC customers will benefit from a price advantage of around 10% compared to regular Mercedes-Benz rental fees.

Moreover, thanks to the EQC-optimised navigation, Mercedes-Benz customers can easily find charging stations, while Mercedes Me Charge gives them convenient access to the charging stations of numerous providers in different countries. Customers benefit from an integrated payment function with simple invoicing. Mercedes me Charge also allows access to the quick-charging stations of the pan-European network Ionity.

 

Authored by: Dieter Quartier