The Mercedes-Benz EQS 450+ has achieved the best result ever in the Bjørn Nyland's 1,000 km challenge, as far as fast charging electric cars are considered.
The entry-level EQS has already achieved an amazing range results. Thanks to agood efficiency and solid fast charging capabilities, it's also a very good car for long distance travel.
According to the video, the Mercedes-Benz EQS 450+ (version equipped with a 107.8 kWh of usable battery capacity and a rear-wheel-drive powertrain), completed the distance of 1,000 km (over 621 miles), at an average temperature of 19°C, in 9 hours and 5 minutes (after some time deductions).
No other electric car is as fast, excluding the recently tested NIO ES8, which was driving around one of two available battery swap stations in Norway and achieved a time of 9 hours. The 5 minutes difference to the reference car and NIO ES8 is meaningless at such a distance.
During the challenge, the car was charged a total of four times along the way (5-6 is a typical number of stops for the challenge). After the initial 361 km (224 miles), the average distance between charging stops was 160 km (99 miles).
We can assume that a very similar result could be possible with just three charging stops, as the first stop was very short, to replenish just about 10 percent points of state-of-charge (SOC). It's more a matter of availability of fast charging locations rather than technology itself.
The 1,000 km challenge is a unique test (optimized for time rather than convenience), which expands our empirical knowledge about EVs and gives us glimpses of what is physically possible by an experienced driver in a country with dense DC fast charging infrastructure.
One of the biggest advantages of the Mercedes-Benz EQS 450+ is its efficiency of 220 Wh/km (354 Wh/mile) at an average speed of 110.1 km/h (68 mph). It's only slightly above the Tesla Model 3 Performance, which completed the challenge in 9 hours and 15 minutes.
While the EQS is now #1 in terms of electric cars (using fast charging stations), the most important conclusion is that the current technology already enables BEVs to match conventional cars and EVs with the battery swap feature.
It's a very important indicator, because as the technology improves and matures (more range, faster charging, longer range, more charging stations) we will see more models completing the distance in 9 hours or even faster, using regular highways.
It means that we don't really need battery swap stations and that long-distance travel performances of conventional cars can be directly matched 1:1 - now by the high-end models, and hopefully by mainstream models in the future.
If one would like to compare the EQS 450+ with the EQS 580 4MATIC, we don't have data for the same weather conditions, as the EQS 580 4MATIC was tested at 2°C, achieving a time of 9 hours and 50 minutes. In the summer, the difference potentially could be cut in half.
Test conditions (according to Bjørn Nyland):
- Start: 100% State of Charge (SOC)
- Temperatures: 16-21°C (19°C on average)
- Total time: 9 hours and 5 minutes
- Average speed (total): 110.1 km/h (68 mph)
- Average energy consumption: 220 Wh/km (354 Wh/mile)
- Number of stops for charging: 4
- Average distance between charging stops:
Total: 200 km (124 miles)
Excluding the initial segment: 160 km (99 miles) - Date / Notes: 28.08.2022
Charging stops:
- after 361 km (224 miles)
- after 511 km (318 miles)
- after 660 km (410 miles)
- after 883 km (549 miles)
See also
