Vision express

Created in just 18 months, Mercedes' EQXX is an EV concept engineered with Formula 1 know-how

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DRIVE IT ON THE PADDLES. WELL, YES, I DON'T MIND if 'D I do. This is more like it: a concept EV that lays down some groundbreaking claims for range, efficiency and sustainability, and yet the German engineer alongside is encouraging me to use the paddles to make progress? Happy days.

In fact, what my newfound driving buddy is actually asking me to do is switch between regen modes, adjusting the severity of the regen braking in and out, and back to coast, to vary my speed without ever touching the actual brake pedal. It's how you drive the EQXX the proper way. Brakes equal heat, which equals wasted energy, you see.

Why should you care about this rather unusual-looking MercedesBenz concept car? Well, it was created in just 18 months, by a crack team of Merc's best engineers, cherry-picked from all sorts of departments across the business, and makes some very bold claims. Like being able to travel for more than 620 miles on one charge, and weighing 1750kg. Okay, not exactly lightweight, but around 700kg lighter than one of Mercedes' current EVs with a similar range. That's quite some diet. It also features a powertrain designed in conjunction with the F1 engineers at Mercedes-AMG High Performance Powertrains (HPP) in Brixworth, possesses the power electronics from a Project One, and has enough interesting stats to boggle anyone's mind. It is, as every engineer here is keen to tell me, so much more than just another show car concept.