Mercedes-Benz Vision EQXX

The establishment strikes back.

- Angus Mackenzie

The Mercedes-Benz Vision EQXX is what happens when a leading legacy carmaker turns its focus entirely to designing and engineering a better electric vehicle. In fact, the road-legal EQXX-it meets all crash regulations may be one of the most consequential concept cars of the early 21st century.

For starters, Mercedes says the EQXX, which has a wheelbase 3.0 inches shorter than a Tesla Model 3's, will travel more than 620 miles on a charge. And it'll do so with a 100-kWh battery pack, offering more miles per kWh than either of today's range kings, the Lucid Air Grand Touring (516 miles per the EPA from 118 kWh) or the Model S Long Range (405 miles from 100 kWh). To reduce size and weight, the EQXX's pack dispenses with the conventional method of arranging cells into separate modules and has a lightweight cover made from sugarcane waste reinforced with carbon fiber.

Power comes from a 200-hp rear motor, reworked by engineers from AMG's High Performance Powertrain (HPP) team, which also designs and builds the fiendishly complex and highly efficient Mercedes Formula 1 powertrains. As a result, Mercedes says 95 percent of the energy sent from the battery gets to the driving wheels.