Mercedes-Benz has pushed the limits of electric mobility with a test drive that could signal a breakthrough in battery technology.
A lightly modified EQS, fitted with a lithium-metal solid-state battery, travelled from Stuttgart, Germany, to Malmö, Sweden, a distance of 1,205km, without stopping to recharge.
The run, completed at the end of August, not only beat the brand’s own record set by the Vision EQXX concept by 3km, but the vehicle still had 137km of range left on arrival in Malmö.
“The solid-state battery is a true game-changer for electric mobility,” said Mercedes-Benz chief technology officer Markus Schäfer.
“With the successful long-distance drive of the EQS, we show this technology delivers not only in the lab but also on the road. Our goal is to bring innovations such as this into series production by the end of the decade and offer our customers a new level of range and comfort.”
The trip forms part of the carmaker’s wider programme to validate solid-state battery technology. With laboratory work in Stuttgart-Untertürkheim and Sindelfingen, Mercedes-Benz is now gathering real-world data on public roads to see how the system performs under different conditions.
For this journey, the EQS followed the A7 through Germany and the E20 across Denmark before crossing into Sweden. The route was planned using the brand’s electric intelligence system, which factored in traffic, topography, ambient temperature and the energy needed for heating and cooling.
Mercedes-Benz said those tests were an important step towards making solid-state batteries viable for production cars. If successful, the technology could deliver longer range and greater efficiency than today’s lithium-ion packs.
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