A month on from seeing it in the metal, I am just still so impressed by this thing. So exciting to see this new emphasis on efficiency and frugality, in a car that still manages to be incredibly desirable and luxurious. What a thing. Hope you all enjoyed the video, and very much hope to bring you a first drive in the coming months!
What remains to be seen is how the market responds to a vehicle based on this concept. It's very pretty and I expect it will be expensive - and large sedans that are pretty and expensive are normally expected to be powerful. If they're just using this to develop and improve their tech then it won't matter (for this car) but if they decide to bring to market - will the tech entrepreneur or successful business person want to buy this for their family?
The concept is a wow but I hope it is not at the expense of all practicality. You mentioned rear leg room but that sloping roofline also suggests a lack of headroom in the back and a tiny boot. Openings on the bonnet will intake rain and dirt.
Looks both old and futuristic, is functional, showcases technology that can actually be used.. Thank you Mercedes for not doing a UFO without a steering wheel like everyone else's concept
I find any electric car that's not a f***ing SUV exciting, but I think this is the most elegant EV yet! 10 km / kWh So refreshing to see efficiency as the main drive behind the design. Makes me think back to VW's 1 litre car. Solar panel is great too. I love the idea of leaving my car parked in the sun and coming back to find it with a little more charge than when I left it.
Those are the main two reasons I fell in love with the Aptera. Nice to see at least one legacy auto company applying solar and efficiency into their designs.
@@Roshiyu I saw elsewhere that the solar panel is expected to add up to 25 km range per day. So maybe 15 km per day in the UK, 100 km per week in the summer? Nice to have for free.
Looks like a prototype for Sean Connery's first Aston Martin from the side. But the engineering behind this is quite astounding. Like you said, and amazing that the remark was so surprising, a mindset change is needed in the automotive industry - or maybe it's most needed for the customers. Efficiency engineering wins? I hope so.
So pleased that I am not the only person who thinks it looks like a DB5. What a car. Look forward to seeing some of the tech on a vehicle I can afford.
I haven't said "wow" out loud when seeing a car for the first time in a long time. This car is gorgeous inside and out. I love seeing an engineering powerhouse take on a problem in a new way and really show their talents. Maybe the future is going to be okay after all.
Revolutionary tech is just one of the components to keep our heads above the water. Nothing is won if 10 billion use material and energy at an individual level that we in the industrialised countries have come to find adequate.
MB is going to make their new Van with a TESLA battery (4680) and skate board...for that MB will design everything but the power train of the future TESLA cars (only).
And you never will. The 'organic' design is made through topology optimisation (the 'video game engine design' part, which is anything but video game engine) and puts the material only where you need it. The problem with topology optimisation is that in most cases it can only be 3D printed, it's too complex for most (all) other production processes. That's why you see a lot of riveted, welded and bonded sheet metal in cars - it's easy and fast to stamp out the shaped sheets and join them by the three mentioned methods. Easy and fast is also cheap. Very few people could afford a 3D printed car...
@@Primoz.r Well you quite expertly dashed my hopes - but then again your explanation was so clear I'm not even mad. Indeed stamping out large quantities of sheet metal is quite a lot faster than 3D printing each piece. Still...how could would it be...
Finally an electric car I would like to own. I was very surprised by SUV cars that used huge amounts of kWh just because they exist. I congratulate Mercedes because it is going in the direction we really need. I hope other car manufacturers follow these footsteps. Unfortunately, I just don't have the money for a car like this.
Look up the Lightyear One. That is a production intent vehicle, although from a very small startup. Mercedes basically took their concept and design and put conceptual solid state batteries and expensive materials into it.
This car has 100kWh battery, just like a Tesla Model X and more than an Audi eTron, both of which are big SUVs. What we really need are cars like the VW eUP, Renault Twingo ZE, Hyundai Ioniq (not the 5), Peugeot e208. I applaud Mercedes for their effort, but I'd rather have a 50kWh battery with 500km of range and hope that they will learn from this concept to make such a car a reality. Currently, I know that the Tesla Model 3 SR+ and Hyundai Ioniq are very efficient. Peugeot also tweaked their powertrains. The Twingo is very economical aswell, I drove it in town with 100Wh/km without trying to be efficient.
@@patreekotime4578 I doubt that aerodynamics count as "took their design". Apart from the aerodynamic shape, styling wise the Benz is competely different. Also, a solar car is nice and all, but it's quite the compromise. I have my doubts in regards to the Lightyear One, given that it's a tough nut to crack what they want to do.
@@ndc5544p No, what we really need are EV's that people actually want to buy. That would be large SUV's equipped with large battery packs for greater range/towing capability. These dainty, little toy cars may sell in Europe, but not in the US.
Check out their EQS. Superb aerodynamics, rear-wheel steering. Captivating driving emotion. Great range, extremely low consumption. Lowest noise level. Best ride comfort. Of any car.
Love to see this. Making the car lighter improves the vehicle in all respects. It will go farther, faster, last longer, and require less maintenance than something heavier.
I think they got rid of the second gear so this particular car does not go very fast at top speed, just does what is required (Poland and Bulgaria 140 km/h max).
When this efficiency is actually in an affordable EV let me know. I don't think that's Mercedes strong point. Manufacturing efficiency, productivity, cost per unit, that's what matters. The Chinese manufacturers know this and will swallow up market share.
Mercedes is not known for affordable cars but yeah, we need more efficient cars around. Which any SUV is not. Aerodynamics takes time to perfect but it's a fixed cost
@@IG-jd8pt is more than wages, is actually the entire supply chain, If only wage would be a factor, India have wages 5 times lower than China, and is more ''obedient'' to the Mighty West.
'Perfect?' Need to have legs removed to sit in the back and probably a neck shortening operation too. No point in having rear doors if adults don't fit.
That is a beautiful vehicle. Let's hope we get to see the innovations that contribute to the overall efficiency / range in production cars soon. Another great video guys!
@@JackScarlett1 would like to agree Jack, but not sure we are seeing evidence of that at present. Can you think of examples where new generation EVs are more efficient than their older tech predecessors? Mostly it does appear to be just putting in a bigger batteries to get the required range.
Idk. Most everything they are showing off here looks too expensive/complicated to ever go into a production vehicle. They certainly wont help EVs become cheaper.
Sensational (innovation and efficiency focus), we need more concepts and real new cars like this! (Even better if it was affordable!) Another excellent episode, well done Fully Charged (edits in brackets)
Honestly unless you are among the very richest, you are not going to afford this car anyway. What we need for the EV's to really take off is affordable EV's that would actually be available today, not another concept of a car that would cost £200.000++ if it were an actual production car.
@@ezicarus8216 2 things 1. Where i live the Dacia Spring has a starting price of €19.000, we pay full VAT of 25% on electric cars AND there is no government grant og subsidies. (If i want the one with an actual fast charger it cost €20.600) 2. The Dacia spring has only got 1 EURO NCAP star out of 5 so not a car that i would ever put someone i love into. I will even say that if the Spring had 4-5 EURO NCAP stars, a little more powerful motor, and fast charging, i would consider buying one, even at €19.000. That being said, i like the Spring and i hope it will sell well, because that will force the other manufacturers to lower their prices as well, and we all know that competition is good for the consumer.
@@ezicarus8216 My car is 2 years old, and currently holds 5 EURO NCAP stars. Still....I feel that any car that does not have atleast 4 EURO NCAP stars from new, is pretty bad. What NCAP is measuring and what they are testing is no secret, the car manufacturers can literally build their own mockup of the NCAP test, to pre-test their cars, and adjust if something is not very good, and if a manufacturer has a car that still only get 1 star, i would not trust it to carry my family. I know that a car that is 10 years old will probably get very little stars now, because the test gets harder and harder, but honestly, that is no reason to accept a car, that starts off FROM NEW, with only 1 star.
@@ezicarus8216 Sure and in the old days we used asbestos everywhere and kids had no seatbelt on while driving. Luckily things have progressed, and stuff got safer and only less bright people use "Well it was worse before" to justify something bad today. If you want to drive around in that eastern european death trap, be my guest, i choose to drive my 2 year old 5 EURO NCAP star car, and i bet i am a lot safer than you in that soap box car.
This year the USA-made two passenger 0-60mph in 3.5 seconds Aptera vehicle will be on the market. It will have up to a 1000 mile range, charge to 300 miles in 30 minutes using a roadside charger, or 150 miles overnight at 120-volt and the 400-mile version starts at $28,800 or $25,900 for the 250-mile range configuration.
@@stuartsaunders3238 After one of my friend's test road one of the Aptera alpha vehicles on the California twisties he compared it to his Porche and saw no reason to wait for Aptera's four-passenger version. With Roush Engineering out of Detroit's motor city designing the suspension and steering the final builds will be better than the alpha prototype. With the support of automotive guru Sandy Munro of Munro & Associates, Inc it passed the initial crash test back in June of 2021 and according to Sandy it passed it without the added key member suspension support which is now on the beta vehicles and will be included in the production vehicles.
I'm surprised and happy that such developments come from a brand that many associate with luxury, first. If luxury means being smart about resources, design and power, maybe the era of oversized cars + abundance of gadgets in cars can end.
Are you serious!? It doesn’t surprise me at all, Mercedes’ makes all kinds on vehicles as possible from f1 cars to vans, suv, rv, double decker bus, articulated bus, trucks, the unimog, even armoured vehicles.
@@Crepitom it’s not marketing moron! They clearly displayed everything there, things like double glazing on cars, the ABS system, fuel injection were all introduced with Mercedes. Even things like disk brakes…..
@@RWoody1995 wrong, it’s not seen as luxury, also CEO buys cars according to their needs, and flexibility. A Mercedes’ gwagen or Lexus for example are can be used in the farm…..
I can’t say that I’m a fan of the rear side profile, but other than that it’s sheer perfection. I applaud the software that encourages drivers to revel in the environment gains of driving frugally/sensibly. The emphasis on weight savings & how they’ve gone about it is pure genius, the fibre springs are a standout along with the minimalist sculpting of the suspension and subframe. I‘be always sided with you Jack that bigger and faster detracts from elegant efficiency. We drive a modest little 10 year old B Class which we bought secondhand in 2013 & super impressed with the ownership experience. Like most viewers we’ll never be able to afford one but I’m encouraged that they’re taking this direction moving forward. 👍
This is beautiful. A bit Porsche in the front and very Aston Martin DB5 at the rear? I love how efficient it is and how far it can go. If this is the future, we're in safe hands. Well done Mercedes.
I remember a video on this channel that talked about 3D printed titanium parts with similar computer aided design framing on an electric supercar. Imagine if we replace all manufacturing processes with 3D printing, and all factories only differ by their printing capabilities in materials and size. If that day comes, we probably won't need to ship cars. The procedure to buy this Mercedes would be to buy a single-time use software from the company, go to your local printing facilities to print the parts, bring it back home and Mercedes will send a local/regional assembly team (probably 2 men with exoskeleton suits with a robotic platform on a Sprinter Van) to put your car together in a day. Imagine the efficiency in logistics we will have and the waste we are able to reduce. A 100% 3D printed car. What a wet dream.
What a work of art that car is. Great to see the big manufacturers pushing the boundaries of electric cars, so the everyday consumer will benefit further down the line.
This is a concept car that I could easily see being a production vehicle with some small tweaks. I'm glad Mercedes is still doing wild things and pushing what is technically possible.
They probably didn't let him sit in the back because there's no head space in there at all. 3D printed parts are not good for volume production. Air cooled battery is not a good thing, they made it so just to get rid of extra weight. So if it was a production vehicle, it would have to be less aerodynamic and quite a lot heavier.
@@ayushin82 Unless it is some new, yet to be finished, experimental battery technology. that does not heat up, when charged, they hope is ready for production in 10 years when this concept is put into production.
Getting VW XL1 vibes from this. This is what VW should have pursued when they made that car. Efficiency is the name of the game in times where we need to be mindful of our world's resources, not gigantic batteries that need to drive ever bigger cars. I feel like this is the direction that the car industry needs to head. Not hummers and Cybertrucks.
In order to be really efficient the car has to be a small fully autonomous robotaxi. The car that is parked all day is a waste of resources even if it does 6 miles per kWh.
@BullShark absolutely not, as that is gigantically wasteful. Watch adamsomethings video on flying cars. They're a stupid idea, regardless of power train.
Nice video Jack! As several others have commented, this is clearly only a concept because battery packs need thermal management for charging and use. Most manufacturers have now realised that a level of thermal insulation is desired for the battery pack so that cell temperatures can be easily regulated in hot or cold climates - a massive aluminium or copper plate in contact with the cells is a regression in technology. Based on what was shown off in this video, the 6 miles/kwh figure is a pipe dream.
It's designed for ideal conditions and ideal conditions only. Wouldn't be surprised if they had a strong tailwind for their simulated range calculation.
@timemachine_194 if the whole thing is dependent on solid state batteries then I guess this will not be happening any time soon….does seem to be entering pipe-dream territory
@timemachine_194 Problem is it's really not ahead of it's time. The good parts of this car are the weight reduction thanks to 3d printed aluminium chassis and parts. Won't ever be how cars are mass produced. Steel is way cheaper. If this is the best mercedes can think up, it's a shocking admission on their part.
@timemachine_194 nothing ground breaking in this demo car at all, unless it was going to be mass produced within 5 years. If this is the best mercedes can even think up, that's a damning admission on their part.
@timemachine_194 if it can be charged at a rate of 250 kW, at say a 95% efficiency (current dc fast charge efficiency is around 90%), that still means waste heat of 12.5 kW! This is way too much heat for a solid chunk of metal to dissipate effectively. Either Mercedes’ claimed specs can be believed but it will be unable to fast charge OR the specs are all made up and it will in fact have liquid cooling/heating.
I have a new favourite EV, wow that looks fabulous. If only I was buying in the price bracket Mercedes would be targeting. Best Fully Charged video in a couple years as well as a bonus
Hey Jack, I agree that efficiency is very important and I aim for a new "lowscore" almost every time I drive my EV. but please note: gamification for efficiency by colour change in the speedometer already came standard in the 2013 Renault ZOÉ. I hope Mercedes can offer a lot more than that by the time anything like that concept hits the market.
It's not a Zoe!! If only! You can just imagine being inside the Mercedes, while driving the ZOE. That colour-changing leaf etc is all a bit of a gimmick for me and my Zoe. I like to see the GOM being higher after going out for a drive!! Hahaha. In a number of years, the tech innovations may appear in the down-to earth cars, which could be spacecraft by then?😁
My brother's Ford Fiesta, manufactured in the last century used to have a green light come on when you were driving efficiently. It might have put on a red light too when you were lead footing it, i can't remember. Your car telling you "WELL DONE!" when sipping fuel is nothing new
That's the sexiest rear end I've witnessed in a long while... 😁 Looks similar to the classic Aston Martin DB6. Efficiency, not Tesla neck snapping raw power, that's where it's at. Having said that, this is a concept car, not a production one....
I tend to skip the car reviews these days having plumped for one 3 years ago but Jack's reviews are extremely good and I find myself watching more and more. The car is superb, perhaps the most elegant I have ever seen not just electric. The engineering is outstanding and really does give hope that we can engineer ourselves out of this climate crisis, in which I mean efficiency can be vastly improved not that we should all be driving these cars. They also take beer bottles back for refilling in Germany so I suppose it is not surprising that Mercedes came up with this. This should be shown to Boris Johnson and his pals as the definition of "World beating"
A wonderful car, an EV as it should be: low, sleek and efficient. Well done Mercedes. Well done Fully Charged, bring us more cars like this. Thanks Jack.
Or you could watch a channel like “My First Million” and begin to create a plan to start a business venture of your own. Put your financial future into your own hands.
@@bujin1977 nobody said it would be easy. Nothing in life that is truly worth it, is easy. You can buy lottery tickets and binge watch Netflix or you can start looking around in the right places for opportunities for you to invest in yourself by creating something.
Fabulous presentation, looking forward to the year ahead. Thanks Mercedes this car seems to re-invigorate the old Mercedes ethos of being at the forefront of innovation. Keep it up, don't listen to the bean counters!!!
@@rogerhudson2814 of what? A concept with stats based on batteries that dont exist, with a design ripped off from a different company, with expensive exotic components that will likely never be used, for a vehicle which they never plan on bringing to production?
Numbers and design for all to aspire to, especially the big boys. A beautifully done Kamm rear end and the slipperiness is just mind boggling. Well done Mercedes.
Mercedes needs to release the EQXX as this is by far the most brilliant piece of automotive design in decades. Can’t remember the last time I was awestruck by a car.
The thermal design of the battery (or the lack of liquid cooling to be more precise) will lead to cold gating during winter and overheating during fast charging (with the current technologies at least). Other than this, really cool design.
I agree, I can't see the battery pack being wonderful if it's only air temperature controlled, unless of course those are Mercedes solid state batteries in that pack...
@@FFVoyager I'm pretty sure they know their stuff, but also knows there are limits to the current li-ion chemistry. I guess we will see how the future looks. Until then though, we are all living in the present.
@@FFVoyager their goal was to make a concept car that can do 1000 km on a charge. To do this they had to save weight on everything. Liquid cooling adds a lot of weight, that's the only reason they didn't go with it. They would never use air cooling in a production car with current batteries.
Great video Jack, if I were the team at lightyear I might feel a bit ripped off, especially when you said the solar panels were coming 😂?! Some genuinely new (albeit worryingly brittle) components and I can’t say I’m convinced the Mercedes can claim much on the screen tech, all OLED screens operate by turning pixels off - the Kia Soul EV Mk1 had an OLED, agreed, not nearly as big or impressive. Hopefully some of the genuinely new innovative ideas works out, although not liquid cooling that battery is a poor choice, the boys at Nissan can give them all the data they need on that experiment!!
Forget Lightyear, the Lucid Air is just as aerodynamic, has a range of over 500 miles, and can fit actual human beings in the rear seat. Oh, and it's being sold right now.
re: no active cooling... my mind goes to a hot climate, and I cannot imagine a Phoenix summer will be kind to that battery pack (not to mention heating from DCFC). Even 'minimal' liquid cooling would probably be welcome (also for heating the battery in the winter)
Aptera has done most of what you have featured here and according to the numbers done it better. The Aptera will travel 1000 miles on a charge and it's coefficent of drag is 0.13. It does not require fancy doors for it's heat exchanger because it is cooled through the vehicle skin. I have followed this channel for quite some time and do not recall ever seeing the Aptera. Please correct this! All that being said Bravo Zulu to Mercedes for improving the efficiency of their vehicles.
It's good to see some legacy companies applying Aptera design features, however, even if this care is likely destined only for the rich. I'm more than happy with my Noir reservation. ;P
Same in a hot climate, when the car is stationary while you pump lots of kilowatts into the battery to charge it to get going again. A car that relies on forward motion to "blow" wind across the heatspreader, is not very good when the heat is produces while stationary at the charger.
Excellent Q, a few other people raising the same point. I'll be sure to ask Merc this when I next get the chance. Dynamic testing of the EQXX begins this month so cold weather driving is no doubt something they'll be tackling soon!
@@JohnDoe-bd5sz exactly. Was thinking if the car was parked outside for a few hours in -20 degrees, must take a lot of energy to maintain battery temp? But I’m sure they’ve thought about this in the design.
7:27 no water cooling... it might work just fine when driving, but charging will put a much higher heat load on the pack. Also, you not only need to cool the battery, sometimes it also needs to be heated. So they try to sell the omission of battery thermal management as a feature?
Excellent point ref heating battery prior to low temp charging. Perhaps the car would be better "owned/driven in warmer climes. Bring on hydrogen fuel cells, the sooner the better.
Hydrogen is the worst possible choice for passenger cars. The very same Mercedes started working on fuel cell vehicles more than 20 years ago and look at what they are doing now. Still, I would put active thermal management and use it only when necessary
I guess that a heating system is included, I think Tesla in early model to heat the battery used some trick like shorting them for a small period of time
these cells seem to be made of some near future battery technology, maybe solid-state? Those are said to be a lot more temperature-resistant, so you may not need liquid cooling. They may also have fans blowing air over the battery while charging to aid cooling. Omitting active thermal management would have many benefits from both a cost, reliability and environmental perspective, so it is definitely a desirable thing to achieve. Then again this is just a concept, and we don´t know how realistic the whole affair is.
@@theagentsmith Hmm, you might be a tad behind the times. Hydrogen technology is already found to be powering cars, buses and trains, boats/ships and experimental aircraft engines. And also in use for powering homes. Just a matter of time. Granted the production of hydrogen is not that cheap today but who knows about tomorrow.
Wonder how many years were Mercedes designers researching and looking for aerodynamic efficiency combined with beauty ...until they found this fantastic mixture of a 2000 vw xl1 front part and a 1960 renault alpine back end 🙂 but we must throw our hats for the range. For this, well done Mercedes!
Normally don't enjoy concept car videos as they're typically so far removed from what actually arrives on the road years later. So it was a refreshing surprise that the car in this video is actually reasonably close to production spec and is actually going to be road legal. Looks very impressive.
It not so much as a concept car, as in a car there just to show a design concept but more of a technological demonstrator to trial new technologies, design to test new technologies and for that to be possible it needs to be road legal.
This is such a beautiful car. A future classic if it was in production! What boggles my mind is that this work of art has a drag coefficiency of 0.17 or something like that and the EQS is just over 2.0 yet this eqxx has a better looking front end than the eqs. They should give the EQS the face of the EQXX in a future facelift. I love also how it was the collaboration of all the various luxury, performance, racing divisions of Benz.
I am surprised they achieved 0.17 Cd with those door mirrors fitted, the full width dashboard screen could have rear view screens in each corner and use small door mounted camera's giving better air flow along the sides.
Lucid air have achieved this only in limited edition model (sold out) with a huge battery just to beat Tesla, consumer will have to wait to reach 500 miles
The aim here is to be maximally efficient. Getting 600 miles with an extremely large battery is no problem. Just put 250 kWh battery in a G class, and you have 1000 km range.
This piece has been a pleasure to watch. Jack has captured the car objectives with his choices of words and the filming is brilliant. Also, bravo to Mercedes for doing what every other manufacturer should be doing. This car questions the status quo and how automotive parts have been produced in the last 50 years. This is kind of Tesla's mentality, but it's good to see Mercedes doing it as well now. Hopefully most of these findings carry to production.
I was wondering about that too. Already using "Dark Mode" for apps on a modern Android or iPad device is known to lower power consumption. Though it stands to reason that if you have a screen on the passenger side of the car that isn't being used it would be better to turn it off...
So glad you (and hopefully EV manufacturers) focused on efficiency. I cant understand the want for yet another Crossover/SUV type with a hulking battery to lug around. Cheaper to run at the end of the day.
I am mostly in awe with the almost natural design of the chassis parts. It’s like exoskeletons; precisely enough and not sharply angled to prevent overweight and high pressure points. It also reminds me of Gaudí’s work. It is purely amazing when tech, art and nature combine.
battery 50% the size and 30% lighter!! that's mind-blowing. Hopefully we will see this battery technology flowing down to smaller models, so compact and city cars can have a shot
No, we want hydrogen fuel cell cars. And the sooner the better. The charging times for batteries is sort of what you'd expect in mediaeval times. Outrageous.
@@gpsfinancial6988 Why not Google up how they do it in California? Just a matter of time ... in exactly the same way it's going to be a matter of time before houses are wired for charging cars in a respectable time ... I refer to the capacity of the generating plants and electricity supply infrastructure.
@@t1n4444 My house is already wired to charge my car in a reasonable time, it's done while I'm sleeping. Green H2 production will never be as economically sensible as a BEV, it's a waste of energy for domestic vehicles.
Did I miss something about charging? No mention of the charging speed, which I suspect will not be that good with passive battery cooling. Yes, I get 1000km on a single charge means that en-route charging is barely needed, but would be good to know how long it takes to add another 100 miles of range. I wanted to get the above question in before saying the car looks stunning and the tech is amazing. Cannot wait for some of those efficiency gains to go mainstream. I still think 300 miles of range is sufficient, so the weight savings from having a 50kWh battery instead of the 100kWh battery will be massive. If some of the efficiency gains can be retro-fitted as software upgrades to existing EVs, that will be fantastic.
This might well be the first thing Mercedes have ever designed that I would truly call beautiful (in both looks and application). I just hope that some of the concepts within have an influence on cars in the future.
Not just efficient but absolutely beautiful hopefully we can see cars like this soon and many more from other companies like Jaguar and BMW etc. Mercedes would be able to kick Teslsa off the top spot in an instant. Although I guess with recalling 400,000 cars due to shoddy build quality that even British Leyland would be embarrassed by Tesla aren't at the top anymore already.
it's nice to see what engineers and designers can do when they want to push technology forward, granted much will never make it to production, but still, it's gorgeous. Well done MB !
Definitily a looker and a lot interesting technology. A nice showcase. I just hope this will encourage people to believe in EV instead of causing them to wait, thinking they somehow need 600 miles of range...
@@hahtos Yes, but with good or bad intentions? Good as in "Hey guys, look what we can do!". Bad as in "Dear customers, just wait for us. Don't buy a Tesla/Hyundai/VW. We might do better eventually."
A month on from seeing it in the metal, I am just still so impressed by this thing. So exciting to see this new emphasis on efficiency and frugality, in a car that still manages to be incredibly desirable and luxurious. What a thing. Hope you all enjoyed the video, and very much hope to bring you a first drive in the coming months!
Absolutely brilliant presentation Jack! I couldn't hit pause even if I wanted to.
You look like the guy in the video and his name is also Jack. Illuminati confirmed
What remains to be seen is how the market responds to a vehicle based on this concept. It's very pretty and I expect it will be expensive - and large sedans that are pretty and expensive are normally expected to be powerful. If they're just using this to develop and improve their tech then it won't matter (for this car) but if they decide to bring to market - will the tech entrepreneur or successful business person want to buy this for their family?
The concept is a wow but I hope it is not at the expense of all practicality. You mentioned rear leg room but that sloping roofline also suggests a lack of headroom in the back and a tiny boot. Openings on the bonnet will intake rain and dirt.
Great work Jack and a very interesting car. Thank you.
Looks both old and futuristic, is functional, showcases technology that can actually be used.. Thank you Mercedes for not doing a UFO without a steering wheel like everyone else's concept
It looks like a BD5 for 2030
Agreed. This is a beautiful piece of work from Mercedes. Design is very satisfying, except that it would be better with full leather seats.
@@72Yonatan it would be even better with seats made entirely out of cheese
A future headline in The Sun “I drove my EV for 619 miles and nearly ran out of battery”
I find any electric car that's not a f***ing SUV exciting, but I think this is the most elegant EV yet!
10 km / kWh
So refreshing to see efficiency as the main drive behind the design. Makes me think back to VW's 1 litre car.
Solar panel is great too. I love the idea of leaving my car parked in the sun and coming back to find it with a little more charge than when I left it.
Those are the main two reasons I fell in love with the Aptera. Nice to see at least one legacy auto company applying solar and efficiency into their designs.
@@Roshiyu I saw elsewhere that the solar panel is expected to add up to 25 km range per day. So maybe 15 km per day in the UK, 100 km per week in the summer? Nice to have for free.
Not sure if the added weight does cancel out the increased charge. Short trips np long trip difficult. Carports are also a no no.
My mazda 929 has solar panels on the roof to keep the ventilation going when parked back in 1992.
I have a VW e-up and in summer I do lower than 10kwh / 100km
Looks like a prototype for Sean Connery's first Aston Martin from the side. But the engineering behind this is quite astounding. Like you said, and amazing that the remark was so surprising, a mindset change is needed in the automotive industry - or maybe it's most needed for the customers. Efficiency engineering wins? I hope so.
Ah yes, the Mershadies Bensh.
So pleased that I am not the only person who thinks it looks like a DB5. What a car. Look forward to seeing some of the tech on a vehicle I can afford.
The Tech is quite far behind Bonds Car though. Thanks to Q.
i think the design cue is from lightyear the solar powered car.;)
*Lamb Shank !*
I haven't said "wow" out loud when seeing a car for the first time in a long time. This car is gorgeous inside and out. I love seeing an engineering powerhouse take on a problem in a new way and really show their talents. Maybe the future is going to be okay after all.
Revolutionary tech is just one of the components to keep our heads above the water. Nothing is won if 10 billion use material and energy at an individual level that we in the industrialised countries have come to find adequate.
"Games engine" = Topology Optimization.
I haven’t been this wowed in a long time by new automotive technologies. The frame components are unlike anything I’ve seen in current cars.
MB is going to make their new Van with a TESLA battery (4680) and skate board...for that MB will design everything but the power train of the future TESLA cars (only).
@@johnpinke784 huh? Citation needed?
And you never will. The 'organic' design is made through topology optimisation (the 'video game engine design' part, which is anything but video game engine) and puts the material only where you need it.
The problem with topology optimisation is that in most cases it can only be 3D printed, it's too complex for most (all) other production processes. That's why you see a lot of riveted, welded and bonded sheet metal in cars - it's easy and fast to stamp out the shaped sheets and join them by the three mentioned methods. Easy and fast is also cheap.
Very few people could afford a 3D printed car...
Merc bought the rights to the remanents of the crashed UFO at Roswell. Wait until you touch the anti-grav button on the production version....
@@Primoz.r Well you quite expertly dashed my hopes - but then again your explanation was so clear I'm not even mad.
Indeed stamping out large quantities of sheet metal is quite a lot faster than 3D printing each piece.
Still...how could would it be...
Finally an electric car I would like to own. I was very surprised by SUV cars that used huge amounts of kWh just because they exist. I congratulate Mercedes because it is going in the direction we really need. I hope other car manufacturers follow these footsteps. Unfortunately, I just don't have the money for a car like this.
Look up the Lightyear One. That is a production intent vehicle, although from a very small startup. Mercedes basically took their concept and design and put conceptual solid state batteries and expensive materials into it.
This car has 100kWh battery, just like a Tesla Model X and more than an Audi eTron, both of which are big SUVs.
What we really need are cars like the VW eUP, Renault Twingo ZE, Hyundai Ioniq (not the 5), Peugeot e208. I applaud Mercedes for their effort, but I'd rather have a 50kWh battery with 500km of range and hope that they will learn from this concept to make such a car a reality. Currently, I know that the Tesla Model 3 SR+ and Hyundai Ioniq are very efficient. Peugeot also tweaked their powertrains. The Twingo is very economical aswell, I drove it in town with 100Wh/km without trying to be efficient.
@@patreekotime4578 I doubt that aerodynamics count as "took their design". Apart from the aerodynamic shape, styling wise the Benz is competely different. Also, a solar car is nice and all, but it's quite the compromise. I have my doubts in regards to the Lightyear One, given that it's a tough nut to crack what they want to do.
@@ndc5544p No, what we really need are EV's that people actually want to buy. That would be large SUV's equipped with large battery packs for greater range/towing capability. These dainty, little toy cars may sell in Europe, but not in the US.
Check out their EQS. Superb aerodynamics, rear-wheel steering. Captivating driving emotion. Great range, extremely low consumption. Lowest noise level. Best ride comfort. Of any car.
Beautiful, that is what Mercedes was known for, making concept cars for testing every technology they can think of. Love the 3d printing.
Love to see this. Making the car lighter improves the vehicle in all respects. It will go farther, faster, last longer, and require less maintenance than something heavier.
"Adding power makes you faster on the straights. Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere.” - Colin Chapman
I think they got rid of the second gear so this particular car does not go very fast at top speed, just does what is required (Poland and Bulgaria 140 km/h max).
Not to mention the damage heavier vehicles do to the roads!
Every time Jack said "game engine" I crigned a little! Neverthelss awesome video!
When this efficiency is actually in an affordable EV let me know. I don't think that's Mercedes strong point. Manufacturing efficiency, productivity, cost per unit, that's what matters. The Chinese manufacturers know this and will swallow up market share.
Mercedes is not known for affordable cars but yeah, we need more efficient cars around. Which any SUV is not. Aerodynamics takes time to perfect but it's a fixed cost
Aptera
You can’t compete with Chinese workers’ wages
@@IG-jd8pt is more than wages, is actually the entire supply chain, If only wage would be a factor, India have wages 5 times lower than China, and is more ''obedient'' to the Mighty West.
Looks like the perfect car! Can’t wait for the tech to become mainstream and more affordable.
'Perfect?'
Need to have legs removed to sit in the back and probably a neck shortening operation too.
No point in having rear doors if adults don't fit.
That is a beautiful vehicle. Let's hope we get to see the innovations that contribute to the overall efficiency / range in production cars soon. Another great video guys!
Totally agree, and I'm confident that we will 🤞
@@JackScarlett1 would like to agree Jack, but not sure we are seeing evidence of that at present. Can you think of examples where new generation EVs are more efficient than their older tech predecessors? Mostly it does appear to be just putting in a bigger batteries to get the required range.
Idk. Most everything they are showing off here looks too expensive/complicated to ever go into a production vehicle. They certainly wont help EVs become cheaper.
How is a vehicle with no place for the rear passenger's heads "beautiful"?
@@LG123ABC beauty and functionality are two totally different metrics.
Sensational (innovation and efficiency focus), we need more concepts and real new cars like this! (Even better if it was affordable!) Another excellent episode, well done Fully Charged (edits in brackets)
Honestly unless you are among the very richest, you are not going to afford this car anyway.
What we need for the EV's to really take off is affordable EV's that would actually be available today, not another concept of a car that would cost £200.000++ if it were an actual production car.
@@ezicarus8216
2 things
1. Where i live the Dacia Spring has a starting price of €19.000, we pay full VAT of 25% on electric cars AND there is no government grant og subsidies. (If i want the one with an actual fast charger it cost €20.600)
2. The Dacia spring has only got 1 EURO NCAP star out of 5 so not a car that i would ever put someone i love into.
I will even say that if the Spring had 4-5 EURO NCAP stars, a little more powerful motor, and fast charging, i would consider buying one, even at €19.000.
That being said, i like the Spring and i hope it will sell well, because that will force the other manufacturers to lower their prices as well, and we all know that competition is good for the consumer.
@@ezicarus8216 My car is 2 years old, and currently holds 5 EURO NCAP stars.
Still....I feel that any car that does not have atleast 4 EURO NCAP stars from new, is pretty bad.
What NCAP is measuring and what they are testing is no secret, the car manufacturers can literally build their own mockup of the NCAP test, to pre-test their cars, and adjust if something is not very good, and if a manufacturer has a car that still only get 1 star, i would not trust it to carry my family.
I know that a car that is 10 years old will probably get very little stars now, because the test gets harder and harder, but honestly, that is no reason to accept a car, that starts off FROM NEW, with only 1 star.
@@ezicarus8216 Sure and in the old days we used asbestos everywhere and kids had no seatbelt on while driving.
Luckily things have progressed, and stuff got safer and only less bright people use "Well it was worse before" to justify something bad today.
If you want to drive around in that eastern european death trap, be my guest, i choose to drive my 2 year old 5 EURO NCAP star car, and i bet i am a lot safer than you in that soap box car.
I'm not a Mercedes fan but that has to be the best looking Mercedes I'v seen in decades.
My name is X, EQXX.
This is a classic BOND vehicle (EV). Looks awesome.
getting a lot of VW XL1 vibes from the shape of this EQXX (understandably)
;-) Can't you see a bit of Lightyear 1 in the rear half?
I'm blown away by this car. Efficiency is the new mantra for electric vehicles. Now you are getting there Mercedes..
This year the USA-made two passenger 0-60mph in 3.5 seconds Aptera vehicle will be on the market. It will have up to a 1000 mile range, charge to 300 miles in 30 minutes using a roadside charger, or 150 miles overnight at 120-volt and the 400-mile version starts at $28,800 or $25,900 for the 250-mile range configuration.
Thinking of doing a 4 wheel conversion for the Aptera.
@@stuartsaunders3238 After one of my friend's test road one of the Aptera alpha vehicles on the California twisties he compared it to his Porche and saw no reason to wait for Aptera's four-passenger version. With Roush Engineering out of Detroit's motor city designing the suspension and steering the final builds will be better than the alpha prototype. With the support of automotive guru Sandy Munro of Munro & Associates, Inc it passed the initial crash test back in June of 2021 and according to Sandy it passed it without the added key member suspension support which is now on the beta vehicles and will be included in the production vehicles.
It's a beautiful car.
It evokes a vintage style while looking utterly up-to-the-minute.
I'm surprised and happy that such developments come from a brand that many associate with luxury, first. If luxury means being smart about resources, design and power, maybe the era of oversized cars + abundance of gadgets in cars can end.
So, their marketing works for you. Lol.
Are you serious!? It doesn’t surprise me at all, Mercedes’ makes all kinds on vehicles as possible from f1 cars to vans, suv, rv, double decker bus, articulated bus, trucks, the unimog, even armoured vehicles.
@@Crepitom it’s not marketing moron! They clearly displayed everything there, things like double glazing on cars, the ABS system, fuel injection were all introduced with Mercedes. Even things like disk brakes…..
having a lot of range is seen as a luxury thing in EVs i guess, hence all the CEOs buying up tesla model s' lol
@@RWoody1995 wrong, it’s not seen as luxury, also CEO buys cars according to their needs, and flexibility. A Mercedes’ gwagen or Lexus for example are can be used in the farm…..
I can’t say that I’m a fan of the rear side profile, but other than that it’s sheer perfection.
I applaud the software that encourages drivers to revel in the environment gains of driving frugally/sensibly.
The emphasis on weight savings & how they’ve gone about it is pure genius, the fibre springs are a standout along with the minimalist sculpting of the suspension and subframe.
I‘be always sided with you Jack that bigger and faster detracts from elegant efficiency.
We drive a modest little 10 year old B Class which we bought secondhand in 2013 & super impressed with the ownership experience.
Like most viewers we’ll never be able to afford one but I’m encouraged that they’re taking this direction moving forward. 👍
This is beautiful. A bit Porsche in the front and very Aston Martin DB5 at the rear? I love how efficient it is and how far it can go. If this is the future, we're in safe hands. Well done Mercedes.
A bit of lotus at the front there too
@@Alex-cw3rz indeed
I remember a video on this channel that talked about 3D printed titanium parts with similar computer aided design framing on an electric supercar.
Imagine if we replace all manufacturing processes with 3D printing, and all factories only differ by their printing capabilities in materials and size.
If that day comes, we probably won't need to ship cars. The procedure to buy this Mercedes would be to buy a single-time use software from the company, go to your local printing facilities to print the parts, bring it back home and Mercedes will send a local/regional assembly team (probably 2 men with exoskeleton suits with a robotic platform on a Sprinter Van) to put your car together in a day.
Imagine the efficiency in logistics we will have and the waste we are able to reduce. A 100% 3D printed car. What a wet dream.
OMG this thing is stunning, please let them not change anything. Dream car
Yup, I’ll be dreaming about this one for a while. It’s absolutely stunning from a design and efficiency perspective.
What a work of art that car is. Great to see the big manufacturers pushing the boundaries of electric cars, so the everyday consumer will benefit further down the line.
This is a concept car that I could easily see being a production vehicle with some small tweaks. I'm glad Mercedes is still doing wild things and pushing what is technically possible.
And all of that for the small price of £200.000+
They probably didn't let him sit in the back because there's no head space in there at all. 3D printed parts are not good for volume production. Air cooled battery is not a good thing, they made it so just to get rid of extra weight. So if it was a production vehicle, it would have to be less aerodynamic and quite a lot heavier.
@@ayushin82 Unless it is some new, yet to be finished, experimental battery technology. that does not heat up, when charged, they hope is ready for production in 10 years when this concept is put into production.
This shape design looks almost identical to the legendary VW XL1 😄
Getting VW XL1 vibes from this. This is what VW should have pursued when they made that car. Efficiency is the name of the game in times where we need to be mindful of our world's resources, not gigantic batteries that need to drive ever bigger cars. I feel like this is the direction that the car industry needs to head. Not hummers and Cybertrucks.
In order to be really efficient the car has to be a small fully autonomous robotaxi. The car that is parked all day is a waste of resources even if it does 6 miles per kWh.
@BullShark absolutely not, as that is gigantically wasteful. Watch adamsomethings video on flying cars. They're a stupid idea, regardless of power train.
Sleek, classy design that makes the car "shine". Stands out in a wonderful exterior design. A great EV vehicle. Way to glow! 👍
Having the vehicle working smarter/more efficiently and not harder is definitely the way to go until we have better battery tech. I love it!
Nice video Jack! As several others have commented, this is clearly only a concept because battery packs need thermal management for charging and use. Most manufacturers have now realised that a level of thermal insulation is desired for the battery pack so that cell temperatures can be easily regulated in hot or cold climates - a massive aluminium or copper plate in contact with the cells is a regression in technology. Based on what was shown off in this video, the 6 miles/kwh figure is a pipe dream.
It's designed for ideal conditions and ideal conditions only. Wouldn't be surprised if they had a strong tailwind for their simulated range calculation.
@timemachine_194 if the whole thing is dependent on solid state batteries then I guess this will not be happening any time soon….does seem to be entering pipe-dream territory
@timemachine_194 Problem is it's really not ahead of it's time. The good parts of this car are the weight reduction thanks to 3d printed aluminium chassis and parts. Won't ever be how cars are mass produced. Steel is way cheaper.
If this is the best mercedes can think up, it's a shocking admission on their part.
@timemachine_194 nothing ground breaking in this demo car at all, unless it was going to be mass produced within 5 years.
If this is the best mercedes can even think up, that's a damning admission on their part.
@timemachine_194 if it can be charged at a rate of 250 kW, at say a 95% efficiency (current dc fast charge efficiency is around 90%), that still means waste heat of 12.5 kW! This is way too much heat for a solid chunk of metal to dissipate effectively. Either Mercedes’ claimed specs can be believed but it will be unable to fast charge OR the specs are all made up and it will in fact have liquid cooling/heating.
Completely agree. Efficiency is key. Doesn't hurt that it looks beautiful too. Use the efficiency tech in smaller cheaper models too.
Backside like a DB6 doesn't hurt in the looks department.
Take a look at Aptera. They've been doing this for a while now. ;)
Let’s hope it’s less than 10 years before we see some of this in a car. The planet needs Merc owners to want to buy these cars today
Mercedes dont understand what the Volks really need. And that reason is much enough to let them go bancrott.
I have a new favourite EV, wow that looks fabulous. If only I was buying in the price bracket Mercedes would be targeting. Best Fully Charged video in a couple years as well as a bonus
Efficiency is so much cooler than speed or power. Love it
You dig it.
When seeing the range, I had to view this. Holy cow. That is an incredible looking car
Stunning!!! Absolutely stunning! Looking forward to MB EVs... even more now.
Hey Jack, I agree that efficiency is very important and I aim for a new "lowscore" almost every time I drive my EV. but please note: gamification for efficiency by colour change in the speedometer already came standard in the 2013 Renault ZOÉ. I hope Mercedes can offer a lot more than that by the time anything like that concept hits the market.
It's not a Zoe!! If only! You can just imagine being inside the Mercedes, while driving the ZOE. That colour-changing leaf etc is all a bit of a gimmick for me and my Zoe. I like to see the GOM being higher after going out for a drive!! Hahaha. In a number of years, the tech innovations may appear in the down-to earth cars, which could be spacecraft by then?😁
My brother's Ford Fiesta, manufactured in the last century used to have a green light come on when you were driving efficiently. It might have put on a red light too when you were lead footing it, i can't remember.
Your car telling you "WELL DONE!" when sipping fuel is nothing new
Exciting stuff. I enjoyed the calm, slower paced delivery.
That's the sexiest rear end I've witnessed in a long while... 😁 Looks similar to the classic Aston Martin DB6. Efficiency, not Tesla neck snapping raw power, that's where it's at. Having said that, this is a concept car, not a production one....
I had the same thought, regarding the back end.
Is tesla like a tick for you or something? You can't wait to mention one of the least well made cars ever.
if its so badly made they sold 87% more year to year (20/21) but this car looks a very nice car
Agree re that rear end. It's even better in the metal
DB6 was the one with the Kamm tail.
So many designers and none of them actually looked at the thing. This car is why no one wanted an electric car prior to Tesla.
I tend to skip the car reviews these days having plumped for one 3 years ago but Jack's reviews are extremely good and I find myself watching more and more.
The car is superb, perhaps the most elegant I have ever seen not just electric. The engineering is outstanding and really does give hope that we can engineer ourselves out of this climate crisis, in which I mean efficiency can be vastly improved not that we should all be driving these cars. They also take beer bottles back for refilling in Germany so I suppose it is not surprising that Mercedes came up with this.
This should be shown to Boris Johnson and his pals as the definition of "World beating"
It's an ad, the car is fake and can't be produced
@@StefanoFinocchiaro It is 1/1 real.
It's an unqualified WOW from me! Stunning 😲
A wonderful car, an EV as it should be: low, sleek and efficient. Well done Mercedes. Well done Fully Charged, bring us more cars like this. Thanks Jack.
Blimey! An elegant Mercedes! I thought they died out around 1980.
Looks good. Still going to be at least 5 to 10 years before this sort of tech is affordable to people like me.
Sadly yes. Hopefully more 5 than 10!
A lot long than 10 years if they're talking about replacing cheap steel with aluminium to get their range gains.
Or you could watch a channel like “My First Million” and begin to create a plan to start a business venture of your own. Put your financial future into your own hands.
@@flight815 I'm sure it's just that easy...
@@bujin1977 nobody said it would be easy. Nothing in life that is truly worth it, is easy. You can buy lottery tickets and binge watch Netflix or you can start looking around in the right places for opportunities for you to invest in yourself by creating something.
A beautiful shape. The rear looks something like the James Bond DB5 from the 1960s.
I could see this in the showrooms in 3-4 years. If I start saving now I could afford a door handle by then
😆 🤣
Very clever design. Mercedes playing to it's core strengths. Having AMG & Formula E on board are great Pluses.
Fabulous presentation, looking forward to the year ahead. Thanks Mercedes this car seems to re-invigorate the old Mercedes ethos of being at the forefront of innovation. Keep it up, don't listen to the bean counters!!!
Elon Musk will be livid with envy.
@@rogerhudson2814 of what? A concept with stats based on batteries that dont exist, with a design ripped off from a different company, with expensive exotic components that will likely never be used, for a vehicle which they never plan on bringing to production?
@@patreekotime4578 with the lack of an active thermal management system, it’s basically a Nissan Leaf 2024 facelift 😅
Numbers and design for all to aspire to, especially the big boys. A beautifully done Kamm rear end and the slipperiness is just mind boggling. Well done Mercedes.
Thanks for the video. Love the radical redesign of so many internal components. Amazing 😍👍🏻
A beautiful car but really only for the top 5% of the population that can afford it. This is why Aptera will be the car of the future!
Jack, I am embarrassed to say that it only just dawns on me what a great presenter you really are! And becoming better with each episode!
Mercedes needs to release the EQXX as this is by far the most brilliant piece of automotive design in decades. Can’t remember the last time I was awestruck by a car.
The thermal design of the battery (or the lack of liquid cooling to be more precise) will lead to cold gating during winter and overheating during fast charging (with the current technologies at least). Other than this, really cool design.
I agree, I can't see the battery pack being wonderful if it's only air temperature controlled, unless of course those are Mercedes solid state batteries in that pack...
I think there is just a chance that Mercedes know more about what they are doing than a poster on RUclips.
@@FFVoyager I'm pretty sure they know their stuff, but also knows there are limits to the current li-ion chemistry. I guess we will see how the future looks. Until then though, we are all living in the present.
@@FFVoyager their goal was to make a concept car that can do 1000 km on a charge. To do this they had to save weight on everything. Liquid cooling adds a lot of weight, that's the only reason they didn't go with it. They would never use air cooling in a production car with current batteries.
This older guy who comes up at the end is so funny and nice to listen to! I want him on more videos.
Uu, doesn’t look like the mercs of today. Could be their new design language for the future. Very interesting
looks like a great retrofuturism for me
THAT is a beautiful design...And a better range than many, I really like that.
Great episode Jack. I like your style. Fantastic car.
this design is so incredibly beautiful. Crossover from 1960s and modern car, done well.
Great video Jack, if I were the team at lightyear I might feel a bit ripped off, especially when you said the solar panels were coming 😂?! Some genuinely new (albeit worryingly brittle) components and I can’t say I’m convinced the Mercedes can claim much on the screen tech, all OLED screens operate by turning pixels off - the Kia Soul EV Mk1 had an OLED, agreed, not nearly as big or impressive. Hopefully some of the genuinely new innovative ideas works out, although not liquid cooling that battery is a poor choice, the boys at Nissan can give them all the data they need on that experiment!!
Yeah, they didn’t mention how the battery would be heated in the winter. 🧐
This is the Nissan Leaf 2024 facelift 😂
Forget Lightyear, the Lucid Air is just as aerodynamic, has a range of over 500 miles, and can fit actual human beings in the rear seat. Oh, and it's being sold right now.
@@LG123ABC and has an actual thermal management system. This Mercedes concept is basically a sexy Nissan Leaf.
Can't afford it but thank you Mercedes for this, beautiful.
You can say again my friend, beautiful.👍
re: no active cooling... my mind goes to a hot climate, and I cannot imagine a Phoenix summer will be kind to that battery pack (not to mention heating from DCFC). Even 'minimal' liquid cooling would probably be welcome (also for heating the battery in the winter)
I thought the same and the battery would also have problems in very cold climates, slow charging etc
Err, probably best leaving the thinking to the people who design these things - don't you think......?!
VW should make a BEV version of the XL1.
Aptera has done most of what you have featured here and according to the numbers done it better. The Aptera will travel 1000 miles on a charge and it's coefficent of drag is 0.13. It does not require fancy doors for it's heat exchanger because it is cooled through the vehicle skin. I have followed this channel for quite some time and do not recall ever seeing the Aptera. Please correct this! All that being said Bravo Zulu to Mercedes for improving the efficiency of their vehicles.
It's good to see some legacy companies applying Aptera design features, however, even if this care is likely destined only for the rich.
I'm more than happy with my Noir reservation. ;P
Loving the design and engineering concepts behind this. Looking forward to see the tech in production cars soon.
Sorry for stupid question, how does that massive metal plate work in a cold climate? Wouldn’t it make the battery too cold?
Same in a hot climate, when the car is stationary while you pump lots of kilowatts into the battery to charge it to get going again.
A car that relies on forward motion to "blow" wind across the heatspreader, is not very good when the heat is produces while stationary at the charger.
Excellent Q, a few other people raising the same point. I'll be sure to ask Merc this when I next get the chance. Dynamic testing of the EQXX begins this month so cold weather driving is no doubt something they'll be tackling soon!
@@JohnDoe-bd5sz exactly. Was thinking if the car was parked outside for a few hours in -20 degrees, must take a lot of energy to maintain battery temp? But I’m sure they’ve thought about this in the design.
Good engineering has the efficiency and beauty of nature. Looks like art. Happy Mercedes is not letting us down
Looking forward to this tech and the associated frugal mind set being adopted by all manufacturers in the next gen smaller and more affordable EVs.
Love it, I really hope this goes into production and they change very little of the design.
7:27 no water cooling... it might work just fine when driving, but charging will put a much higher heat load on the pack. Also, you not only need to cool the battery, sometimes it also needs to be heated.
So they try to sell the omission of battery thermal management as a feature?
Excellent point ref heating battery prior to low temp charging.
Perhaps the car would be better "owned/driven in warmer climes.
Bring on hydrogen fuel cells, the sooner the better.
Hydrogen is the worst possible choice for passenger cars. The very same Mercedes started working on fuel cell vehicles more than 20 years ago and look at what they are doing now.
Still, I would put active thermal management and use it only when necessary
I guess that a heating system is included, I think Tesla in early model to heat the battery used some trick like shorting them for a small period of time
these cells seem to be made of some near future battery technology, maybe solid-state? Those are said to be a lot more temperature-resistant, so you may not need liquid cooling. They may also have fans blowing air over the battery while charging to aid cooling. Omitting active thermal management would have many benefits from both a cost, reliability and environmental perspective, so it is definitely a desirable thing to achieve. Then again this is just a concept, and we don´t know how realistic the whole affair is.
@@theagentsmith Hmm, you might be a tad behind the times.
Hydrogen technology is already found to be powering cars, buses and trains, boats/ships and experimental aircraft engines.
And also in use for powering homes.
Just a matter of time.
Granted the production of hydrogen is not that cheap today but who knows about tomorrow.
Wonder how many years were Mercedes designers researching and looking for aerodynamic efficiency combined with beauty ...until they found this fantastic mixture of a 2000 vw xl1 front part and a 1960 renault alpine back end 🙂 but we must throw our hats for the range. For this, well done Mercedes!
A touch of Taycan, Aston Martin, Porsche even; a classic shape
Normally don't enjoy concept car videos as they're typically so far removed from what actually arrives on the road years later. So it was a refreshing surprise that the car in this video is actually reasonably close to production spec and is actually going to be road legal. Looks very impressive.
It not so much as a concept car, as in a car there just to show a design concept but more of a technological demonstrator to trial new technologies, design to test new technologies and for that to be possible it needs to be road legal.
Great to see efficiency being made sexy!
This is a car I would buy if it was actually being made and in my price range.
This is such a beautiful car. A future classic if it was in production!
What boggles my mind is that this work of art has a drag coefficiency of 0.17 or something like that and the EQS is just over 2.0 yet this eqxx has a better looking front end than the eqs.
They should give the EQS the face of the EQXX in a future facelift.
I love also how it was the collaboration of all the various luxury, performance, racing divisions of Benz.
I am surprised they achieved 0.17 Cd with those door mirrors fitted, the full width dashboard screen could have rear view screens in each corner and use small door mounted camera's giving better air flow along the sides.
Lucid air has customer models that can get 517 miles now, some Chinese EVs can go 450 to about 600 miles too
Lucid air have achieved this only in limited edition model (sold out) with a huge battery just to beat Tesla, consumer will have to wait to reach 500 miles
The aim here is to be maximally efficient. Getting 600 miles with an extremely large battery is no problem. Just put 250 kWh battery in a G class, and you have 1000 km range.
This piece has been a pleasure to watch. Jack has captured the car objectives with his choices of words and the filming is brilliant. Also, bravo to Mercedes for doing what every other manufacturer should be doing. This car questions the status quo and how automotive parts have been produced in the last 50 years. This is kind of Tesla's mentality, but it's good to see Mercedes doing it as well now. Hopefully most of these findings carry to production.
Wow, brilliant vid Jack as always!!
That CD of 0.28 is just amazing and with the rest of the car shows how quickly EV technology is now coming along.
0.18 wasn’t it?
@@scottwills4698 Apologies Scott you were right, old age I'm afraid.
No battery cooling.
Laughs in Nissan Leaf Gen 1.
It’s incredible, but strikingly like the Lightyear One…in fact I thought it was at first, it’s like Merc just lifted their design.
In regards to the screen, isn’t that how OLEDs work?
I was wondering about that too. Already using "Dark Mode" for apps on a modern Android or iPad device is known to lower power consumption. Though it stands to reason that if you have a screen on the passenger side of the car that isn't being used it would be better to turn it off...
So glad you (and hopefully EV manufacturers) focused on efficiency. I cant understand the want for yet another Crossover/SUV type with a hulking battery to lug around. Cheaper to run at the end of the day.
I am mostly in awe with the almost natural design of the chassis parts. It’s like exoskeletons; precisely enough and not sharply angled to prevent overweight and high pressure points. It also reminds me of Gaudí’s work.
It is purely amazing when tech, art and nature combine.
battery 50% the size and 30% lighter!! that's mind-blowing. Hopefully we will see this battery technology flowing down to smaller models, so compact and city cars can have a shot
Other car makers out there, we want more of this please!
No, we want hydrogen fuel cell cars. And the sooner the better.
The charging times for batteries is sort of what you'd expect in mediaeval times.
Outrageous.
@@t1n4444 there will be a place for hydrogen but maybe restricted to heavy duty transport
@@t1n4444 Will you be able to refill your hydrogen car at home? or anywhere for that matter?
@@gpsfinancial6988 Why not Google up how they do it in California?
Just a matter of time ... in exactly the same way it's going to be a matter of time before houses are wired for charging cars in a respectable time ... I refer to the capacity of the generating plants and electricity supply infrastructure.
@@t1n4444 My house is already wired to charge my car in a reasonable time, it's done while I'm sleeping. Green H2 production will never be as economically sensible as a BEV, it's a waste of energy for domestic vehicles.
absolutely great. Efficiency is the key for future mobility. The look for the next James Bond car!
Did I miss something about charging? No mention of the charging speed, which I suspect will not be that good with passive battery cooling. Yes, I get 1000km on a single charge means that en-route charging is barely needed, but would be good to know how long it takes to add another 100 miles of range.
I wanted to get the above question in before saying the car looks stunning and the tech is amazing. Cannot wait for some of those efficiency gains to go mainstream. I still think 300 miles of range is sufficient, so the weight savings from having a 50kWh battery instead of the 100kWh battery will be massive. If some of the efficiency gains can be retro-fitted as software upgrades to existing EVs, that will be fantastic.
It’s totally 1963 Aston Martin in shape. In a good way. 👍
This might well be the first thing Mercedes have ever designed that I would truly call beautiful (in both looks and application). I just hope that some of the concepts within have an influence on cars in the future.
I'll believe it when i see it on road. Thanks for covering.
Not just efficient but absolutely beautiful hopefully we can see cars like this soon and many more from other companies like Jaguar and BMW etc. Mercedes would be able to kick Teslsa off the top spot in an instant. Although I guess with recalling 400,000 cars due to shoddy build quality that even British Leyland would be embarrassed by Tesla aren't at the top anymore already.
it's nice to see what engineers and designers can do when they want to push technology forward, granted much will never make it to production, but still, it's gorgeous. Well done MB !
Is this vapourware by a fossil company causing customers to wait it out instead of buying the competition, or a real thing?
Definitely vaporware
Definitily a looker and a lot interesting technology. A nice showcase. I just hope this will encourage people to believe in EV instead of causing them to wait, thinking they somehow need 600 miles of range...
@@hahtos Yes, but with good or bad intentions? Good as in "Hey guys, look what we can do!". Bad as in "Dear customers, just wait for us. Don't buy a Tesla/Hyundai/VW. We might do better eventually."
This is really cool. Hope the technology in this makes it to actual, production cars eventually, both from Mercedes & the rest of the car industry.