Mercedes-Benz has just revealed the most efficient car the premium carmaker has just revealed. The EQXX features solar panels on the roof that may extend its range with up to 25 kilometers. Starting 2024, solar panels will be optional for all the company’s EV models.
The Mercedes EQX is most likely previewing a future series production model range. The models it will include will retain several design and tech cues of the concept the company has just revealed. One of the technologies that will eventually hit the market will be the solar panels on the roof.
Markus Schafer, Mercedes-Benz’s chief technology officer, announced the info. He let the future EV models owners know that they will be able to tick the box for the solar panel option. Thus their electric cars will be able to get a range boost. In ideal conditions, the 117 solar cells on the roof of the EQXX extend the range of the concept car by 25 kilometers on long-distance trips. It sends energy to a separate lithium-iron-phosphate battery. This unit supplies power to the climate blower, to the infotainment and lighting systems and several others on board.
The solar panels of the EQXX will become a series production solution for all Mercedes-Benz EV models
“Customers probably will have the choice in the future to opt for complete glass roofs uninterrupted, or solar roofs, which are extremely aesthetically attractive, but also the benefit of putting additional energy into the battery,” Schafer told Autoblog.
Mercedes-Benz developed the solar panel with the Fraunhofer Institutes, Europe’s largest application-oriented research organization. It also worked with the engineers in the R&D division of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One team to set up the concept.
The EQXX is the car that features a 1,000-mile range, which sees a consumption of 10 kWh per 100 kilometers. It remains to be seen when series production models will be able to cover this distance on a single charge.
