GENEVA MOTOR SHOW: Mercedes-Benz Concept EQV debuts

The vaunted V-Class people-mover has just joined Mercedes-Benz’s charge to electrify every vehicle in its portfolio by 2022.

The Concept EQV show-car, which made its debut at the Geneva motor show today, will deliver 160km/h of straight-line pace from 150kW of electric power, draining energy from an under-floor 100kWh battery pack.

Planned to be released as a full production model from September’s Frankfurt motor show, the Concept EQV promises a range of around 400km and full seating for eight adults.

It can even be ordered with six captain’s chairs to deliver a limousine set-up from every seating position.

The fully electric Concept EQV has also been designed to be fast-charged to 100km of range in 15 minutes (which isn’t actually that sharp when you ask Porsche what it’s up to with rapid charging).

But no car-maker will best the Concept EQV for versatility, space and functionality (at least until Volkswagen’s I.D. Buzz comes out on sale, or it electrifies its Transporter 6).

"Mercedes-Benz Vans is consistently advancing the electrification of its product portfolio. With the Concept EQV, we're now taking the next step,” Daimler AG board member Wilfried Porth explained.

“The concept offers all of the brand-typical attributes familiar from this segment which Mercedes-Benz customers have come to know, appreciate and also expect.

“As a family companion, a leisure-time adventurer or a shuttle vehicle with lounge ambience, the combination of these characteristics with a battery-electric drive mean the Concept EQV is a concept car with a future. And so we're particularly excited that we will soon be able to offer a series-production model on the basis of this concept."

Running on unique 19-inch wheels, the EQV uses an LED band to define its connection with Benz’s all-electric brand.

The concept car arrived with silver paint, with large air inlets in the front-end, LED headlights and it retains the imposing size of the petrol- and diesel-powered traditional vans.

"The Concept EQV embodies our 'Progressive Luxury' approach by merging the analogue and digital worlds into a single entity,” Daimler’s Chief Design Officer, Gorden Wagener, said.

“The EQ design idiom provides the vehicle with its unmistakable appearance and has some impressively progressive shape.

“And in the interior, too, the cool aesthetics of the exterior continue, being supplemented by warm accents, like those in rose gold, which underline the whole ‘Welcome Home effect’. The focus in the cockpit of our Concept EQV is on the new and intuitive MBUX system."

Alongside the EQV concept in Geneva, Mercedes-Benz revealed its new CLA Shooting Brake, plus the facelifted GLC and new Mercedes-AMG GT R Roadster.