Mercedes-Benz unveils electric car that can travel 1,000km on a single charge

German manufacturer says the Vision EQXX represents the 'future' of electric vehicles

Mercedes says the Vision EQXX prototype is how it imagines the future of electric cars. Photo: Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz has developed an electric car prototype that can travel more than 1,000 kilometres on a single charge, a significant new milestone in the electric vehicle (EV) market.

The Vision EQXX would easily surpass the industry average of about 300km when it becomes available in the next few years and offers more than double the distance of its biggest EV competitor, the Tesla Model S.

Manufacturers claim it will be the most-efficient Mercedes-Benz ever built and have energy consumption of less than 10 kilowatt hours (kWh) per 100km.

Tesla's Model S 60 currently consumes 18.1 kWh over the same distance, data on its website shows.

“The Mercedes-Benz Vision EQXX is how we imagine the future of electric cars,” Mercedes-Benz's chief executive Ola Kaellenius said.

Mercedes-Benz and its parent company Daimler have already pledged to go fully electric by the end of the decade.

The company is investing €40 billion ($45 billion) by 2030 to take on Tesla in an all-electric car market, including building eight battery plants.

From 2025, all its new vehicle platforms will only make EVs, with combustion engines set to be completely phased out by 2030.

Daimler's chief technology officer Markus Schaefer said a scaled-down version of the Vision EQXX will be available in the next two to three years, using similar components and a smaller battery.

However, he declined to say when the 1,000km-range battery would be market-ready.

When such a vehicle would go on sale is a “market decision” to be determined once the car maker has established how much range customers expect and what they are willing to pay, he said.