Mercedes EQ C Electric Crossover Confirmed for Fall Debut
The Mercedes-Benz EQ C electric crossover has been spied undergoing cold weather testing ahead of its newly confirmed debut in the fall of this year.
The EQ C will be the first product launched under Mercedes’ new ‘EQ’ sub-brand for electric vehicles. It will ride on a new platform called EVA, which has been purpose-designed for EVs and can hold a battery pack weighing up to 885 lbs. The Tesla Model X rival could sell up to 20,000 units a year globally and should carry a starting price of around $100,000-$110,000.
On the floor of the Detroit Motor Show, Ola Källenius, Daimler’s head of R&D, confirmed to us the EQ C will be presented later this year before a launch sometime in 2019.
“We will present EQ C to the world in the fall of this year, and it will go into the market next year,” Källenius said. “So that will be the first. It will be an SUV, you saw the show car we showed in France a couple of years ago. So, you’ll see the real car in the fall of this year and next year we’ll be in the market.”
SEE ALSO: 2017 Mercedes-Benz Generation EQ Concept Video, First Look
Daimler has made major investments in the EQ project, putting aside 10 billion euros in order to expand its electric passenger car fleet in coming years. The EVA platform is crucial to the plan and may also spawn a sedan and second crossover model, among other vehicle variants.
With a debut date set for this fall, we wouldn’t be surprised to see the EQ C at the 2018 Paris Motor Show in early October.
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Sam McEachern holds a diploma in journalism from St. Clair College in Windsor, Ontario, and has been covering the automotive industry for over 5 years. He conducts reviews and writes AutoGuide's news content. He's a die-hard motorsports fan with a passion for performance cars of all sorts.
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