EQC is an electric car with star quality

Singapore

SHOWROOMS here may be full of electric cars, but none of them has come with a three-pointed star until now. Last Thursday, Mercedes launched the EQC, the luxury carmaker's first mainstream pure-electric car for Singapore.

The new model comes with a new brand. The five-door, five-seat EQC is the first product from the Stuttgart-based carmaker's new label for battery-powered cars, Mercedes-EQ.

More are set to follow in quick succession. By year's end the new sub-brand will launch a smaller crossover called the EQA in Singapore. It has already unveiled a seven-seater called the EQB, due here next year, as well as the EQS, a plush limousine that will serve as its electric flagship. Altogether, Mercedes-EQ will have a six-model lineup by the end of 2022.

Mercedes actually started production of the EQC in 2019, but Daimler South East Asia's president Claudius Steinhoff said its arrival this year comes at the "perfect" time.

An early electric vehicle (EV) adoption incentive that took effect this year, along with more generous rebates for low-pollution cars could knock up to S$45,000 off some EVs' cost. That, and the government's aim to phase out combustion cars by 2040, has ignited interest in EVs here.

"With a Singapore green plan in place, and also, we see that demand is picking up and interest is really increasing, we are happy having the EQC at this point in time," Mr Steinhoff told The Business Times during a virtual launch for the car. "We also wanted to make sure that when we start with the rollout of our EVs, we can keep the momentum, one car after the other. And this is what we are now basically going to do."

With incentives, the electric Mercedes costs S$298,888 (including Certificate Of Entitlement). The money buys the EQC 400 4Matic, which has two electric motors, all wheel-drive and an 80kWh battery that can take it past 400km on a single charge. With 408 horsepower, it sprints to 100km/h in just 5.1 seconds, making it something of a hot rod.

An AMG Line version, with sporty styling and bigger wheels, costs S$317,888.

Despite its powerful acceleration, the EQC is the first major step in a serious effort by Mercedes to clean up its act. The company aims to have a carbon-neutral fleet of products by 2039, and says it will consider carbon emissions by suppliers before awarding them contracts.

But given that Mercedes is in the relatively early stages of its EV push, the EQC could be sitting at the bottom of a steep technology curve. Yet, Jana Krägenbring-Noor, head of Group Environmental Protection, Energy Management and Sustainability at Mercedes, says it's important for the eco-minded to do their part right away.

"Technology will continue developing within the next few years, of course, we will do this as well, but from the sustainability perspective, you need to start," she told BT. "You need to start to drive battery-driven vehicles, and you need to look at the overall value chain to reduce CO2 emissions all over the world, because this is a global problem."

Mr Steinhoff recognises that drivers here may not be ready to make the switch to full-electric cars, but said that he intends to introduce other models such as plug-in hybrids, which are electric cars that have enough battery power for a daily commute, with petrol engines for longer distances. Mercedes is also betting on 48V mild hybrid technology, which helps to make combustion engines more fuel efficient.

"We want to have an offer to fit every customer need," he said. "Is it a plug-in hybrid, is it an internal combustion engine model with 48 volt technology or is it a fully electric vehicle? We want to be ready for any kind of customer demand."

Mr Steinhoff may feel that the EQC has arrived at the perfect time, but for eco-minded Mercedes fans in general, the good times are around the corner.