Mercedes-Benz EQC sparks me-too flurry

If Mercedes-Benz thought the September calendar was clear enough to launch its first mass-production battery-electric model, it was sorely mistaken.

The Mercedes-Benz EQC electric SUV was swamped by EV teases, announcements and straight-up rumours from BMW, Audi and even Tesla, less than a day before it is due to be launched in Stockholm tonight, Australian time.

BMW’s was the most precisely calculated of all, releasing just a teaser of a set of tail-lights, with wafer-thin slivers of red LED and the merest hint of rear panel shape for its upcoming I-NEXT.

And that was it, with no details beyond that it would be unveiled in Munich on September 9.

Coincidence, no?

Audi also chose yesterday (September 3) to announce it has started mass production of the first customer versions of its e-tron all-electric SUV, which isn’t even due to be shown officially until September 17.

As we’ve reported, although they will be more expensive when they arrive in Australia next year, both the Mercedes-Benz EQC and Audi e-tron will aim directly at the Jaguar I-PACE electric crossover, which arrives Down Under in November priced from $119,000.

The incumbent purveyor of premium electric cars, Tesla, has the most to lose from the Germans invading its EV space, so it teased a close-up view of the pillar of a “surprise” model it will show at the Grand Basel motor show this week.

Grand Basel is not one of the major shows on the world automotive scene, indicating it’s aiming for top billing at the Swiss show, though it’s expected to be either an evolution of the Roadster concept or the actual Roadster concept itself, relaunched.

The California car-maker sent invitations to its European owners to come to the show for a “surprise” reveal on September 5. The Roadster was released as a concept in November, promising a 0-100km/h sprint time of 1.9 seconds and 8.8-second quarter-mile bursts.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently tweeted that he had been working with SpaceX to put rockets on the two-seat Roadster’s sides to help counteract cornering forces (Ferrari was working with air jets to do the same thing aerodynamically in 2000), which could be teased at the show.

More likely would be a hard-top coupe version of the Roadster.

Audi, meanwhile, may present Tesla’s most immediate threat, having cancelled a Belgian launch for the e-tron in August in favour of moving the entire launch event into Tesla’s San Francisco backyard later this month.

The Audi e-tron hasn’t used sheer pace as a feature the way Tesla or Jaguar have. Its ‘sub-6sec’ 0-100km/h claim won’t be as quick as the I-PACE’s 4.8sec time or even the EQC’s ‘sub-5sec’ time.

Instead Audi has boosted the charging capacity of its lithium-ion battery pack to 150kW, allowing it to charge up to 80 per cent in only 30 minutes.

“The Audi e-tron is a genuine pioneer,” Audi’s board member for production and logistics, Peter Kössler, said.

“It features innovative technologies such as virtual exterior mirrors and combines traditional Audi qualities in handling and dynamics with technical Vorsprung that goes far beyond the car.

“Our Brussels plant was comprehensively modernised for the production of the electric car. This is the world's first certified CO2-neutral mass-production in the premium segment.”

EQ is Mercedes-Benz’s full-electric sub-brand, joining EQ Power (plug-in hybrid) and EQ Boost (mild-hybrid). The German car-maker says the EQC will be the first of seven all-electric models it will offer across all vehicle segments by 2022.