Mercedes-Benz EQC Press Release

[E63AMG]

Looks ok. Drive a Tesla then make an opinion. I’ve had a brief go in one & it was amazing £ I never thought I’d hear myself say that having run V8 petrol cars for the best part of the last 20 years.

It’s not just about the drivetrain - it’s all the add ons. The fact the doors don’t hit the wall when you press a button to open them, the sat nav putting the brakes on to warn you there’s an accident 2 miles ahead, updates to the wizardry overnight etc.

Mercedes need to be telling us more about all this not just about the brake regeneration which Tesla adjusts automatically to your driving style anyway I think without changing to sport mode or whatever.

Having said all this, it’s a start form Merc. [emoji106]

Nige.

 

[guhvies]

So how many 110KW chargers do you see on your street? If more than two people bought electric cars in my road that would take the full capacity of the electricity infrastructure so no one else could charge one. Nobody seems to think how are we going to charge these when they start to become mainstream - imagine the queues in motorway service areas (M5/6 during a summer weekend for example) as you wait at least half an hour for every car in front of you to charge itself.

My guess is there will be motorway service areas for us petrol/diesel heads and one for electric vehicles. I wonder who will envy whom???

 

[tangey]

I think it is widely known that the availabilty of electricity (never mind charging points) for an ever increasing electric car population is a major issue. Infrastructure will be playing catch-up for a long time to come.

Maybe keeping all-electric or plug-in hybrids at the premium end of the market not only works for the car markers (to help more quickly recoup R&D costs), but also has an unintended benefit of reducing the ramp-up needed in electricity and charging points.

 

[Mikeone]

Nice but still prefer gazoline engine

 

[ChrisEdu]

I still prefer the idea of hydrogen.

 

[ACB44]

I still have a nagging doubt about buying an EV or an EHV due to the battery tech

Battery tech is changing at a rapid rate with can make a car almost obsolete overnight.

Imagine spending £60k on an EV with a range of 200 miles and a charge time of two hours to see a new car in 18 months with twice the range and half the charge time.

Standardisation of the battery backs with user swap out would be the ultimate aim IMO

I agree given the fact that the next gen cars of manufacturers already with EV are going to 300miles plus 200miles is pretty poor

Do you mean standardisation across all manufacturers or across a manufacturers range? Tesla make their batteries on the cell principle so they can keep on banging out cells because whatever the car design the battery will fit whereas other EV producers make a set design of battery for each vehicle which makes it more expensive and as ranges change could make your edition obsolete.

So how many 110KW chargers do you see on your street? If more than two people bought electric cars in my road that would take the full capacity of the electricity infrastructure so no one else could charge one. Nobody seems to think how are we going to charge these when they start to become mainstream - imagine the queues in motorway service areas (M5/6 during a summer weekend for example) as you wait at least half an hour for every car in front of you to charge itself. The car tech may be there, the charging infrastructure isn't and nobody is talking about how this will achieved. I think I am going to invest in a diesel truck, with a big diesel generator on the back to offer emergency charging services to those that have run out of battery power somewhere inconvenient.

Recent policies from the UK Government show commitment to EVs

Shell open to carmaker partners in EV charging expansion | Reuters

Personally I am waiting before switching to EV as the only real way EV is better in the long term ismif you buy one EV and only one that lasts you far longer than a normal vehicle so I am waiting until the perfect one comes along

 

[Larkone]

Recent policies from the UK Government show commitment to EVs

Shell open to carmaker partners in EV charging expansion | Reuters

Still seems to miss the point that the existing infrastructure cannot cope especially in rural areas where we have overhead power cables, poles that are at capacity and no street lighting to piggyback off. Even building one new house around my area causes issues with the existing supply infrastructure.

 

[TwoDogs80]

It's not for me.
But I do have a lot of respect for the electric tech available in today's motoring industry.

 

[tangey]

Personally I am waiting before switching to EV as the only real way EV is better in the long term ismif you buy one EV and only one that lasts you far longer than a normal vehicle so I am waiting until the perfect one comes along

Given I don't think the perfect ICE car ever came along with hundreds of manufacturers, endless innovation and the best part of 100 hundred years, I expect you might have a long wait to fulfil your requirement.

EVs have to be seen in the same sector, in terms of dev cycle, as tech. The rate of change in tech is such that the "next one" is always better. It was the same in PCs for years until it plateau-ed out. It was the same in phones, which plateau-ed but appear to be taking another tech bump (face-id, folding screens), and given EVs are, in "life" terms, still babies, I think there is A LOT of both major and incremental advances for many many years to come.

Personally I'd like a plug-in hybrid that was about £40K, good premium level, and 100 miles useable electric range, but I'm not seeing anything.

 

[tangey]

base model is >£66K assuming you want a colour other than black or white., rising to over £75K for range topper, before extras.

Its a nice idea, but it isn't going to win over too many GLC owners to electric at that price. Very much a niche product in my view. Clearly they have a market for it, and I'm happy therre are enough buyers @ those high prices that will provide MB with some sort of return to keep them in R&D until they come up with something that is in the same price segment as an ICE GLC. It is only when the battery option segment for segment, doesn't cost appreciatively more than the ICE option, that eletrice cars will hit true volume. But as I'd said elsewhere, the infantile nature of the existing charging structure currently suits many manufacturers going for high end / low volumes.

Battery tech remains a sticking point. All this money being thrown into batteries, and I don't see any big leaps and bounds in power storage per cubic cm, or whatever the relevant measurement is. It's not unique to cars, battery tech has stalled on mobile phones, the only saving grace there is that the demand for ever bigger screens has provided a bigger form factor allowing for phyiscally bigger batteries. And given the market size for phones/tablets etc(in terms of spending) one assumes there has been a LOT of research into battery tech already.If there was potential for new tech a couple of years ago, we'd be seeing it in phones already.

Each style of car (compact car, small SUV etc) is bound by it's market segment requirements, so the possibiltiy of designers having more cubic cms in which to put batteries in the next design after this one isn't there.

 

[grober]

The new more conventional front end.

and the conventional dash

courtesy of CAR MAGAZINE

Mercedes EQC: production begins as UK prices announced

 

[grober]

SHOULD HAVE REALLY POSTED A PICTURE OF THE "GUBBINS"

Although based on the GLC chassis it would perhaps be a mistake to call it an "electric "GLC*. There are quite a few detailed body changes that conspire to give it a sleeker more individual look.
*Certainly MB wouldn't like it.

 

[clk208]

Be interesting to see what the contract hire deals will be on these which would give some sort of indication to expected depreciation.

 

[grober]

I imagine they will err on the side of caution till some history becomes available on battery life expectancy among other things. Against that regenerative braking and simpler drive trains could mean greater longevity of other components. If battery life proves limited and proves inordinately expensive* I would expect used values to fall over a cliff after a certain age.
*against that prices may come down as battery technology improves --- but it will require a step change in current technology.

 

[Steveml63]

Hi,
I wonder if the right hand drive versions of these have will have the same tyre crabbing issues as the GLC?
If so, it would be even more noticeable on a silent electrically driven car!
Cheers
Steve

 

[grober]

Hi,
I wonder if the right hand drive versions of these have will have the same tyre crabbing issues as the GLC?
If so, it would be even more noticeable on a silent electrically driven car!
Cheers
Steve

A little update on that issue-----evidently MERCEDES appear to have quietly introduced a more permanent fix for this employing new GLC suspension front uprights/hubs on their IC models. First seen on their AMG variants they are now standard across the range. I'm guessing altered castor angle but there may be more altered front suspension geometry? There were several posts about this recently---maybe on the GLC crabbing thread?? Any altered steering geometry for RHD cars due to space restrictions should no longer be a problem as there should be more room at the front with the smaller altered drive train- cables and electric motors -none of that central differential +propshafts nonsense

 

[Steveml63]

A little update on that issue-----evidently MERCEDES appear to have quietly introduced a more permanent fix for this employing new GLC suspension front uprights/hubs on their IC models. First seen on their AMG variants they are now standard across the range. I'm guessing altered castor angle but there may be more altered front suspension geometry? There were several posts about this recently---maybe on the GLC crabbing thread?? Any altered steering geometry for RHD cars due to space restrictions should no longer be a problem as there should be more room at the front with the smaller altered drive train- cables and electric motors -none of that central differential +propshafts nonsense

Thanks for that interesting news about the silent fix from Mercedes.
Reminds me of the time they swapped out all the diesel injection systems on the 220 and 250 Diesel engines without telling anybody!

 

[grober]

Thanks for that interesting news about the silent fix from Mercedes.
Reminds me of the time they swapped out all the diesel injection systems on the 220 and 250 Diesel engines without telling anybody!

Took a minute or two but here's a link to one GLC owner who has had the mod.
https://www.glcforums.com/forum/186...ering-knuckle-anti-clonk-fix-6.html#post55868

Link from this forum thread
Mercedes GLC Clonking and juddering on near full steering lock