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Mercedes Benz EQXX: Tesla Model S Plaid Direct Competitor To Launch Next Monday

Days before the official presentation of the Mercedes VISION EQXX, the brand has launched a video miniseries on its official YouTube channel through which we will know the details behind the development of this electric car, which will apparently be direct competition for no other than the Tesla Model S Plaid.
Tesla Model S, courtesy of Tesla Inc.

Many different reporters have been talking a lot about the new - or future - Mercedes Benz EQXX, which is set to be the "most efficient electric car" on the market, with the longest EPA Range. Its presentation will take place in just a few days, on January 3, 2022 (that is, next Monday), but until then the German automaker apparently will not stop showing us juicy details about many of its features. Right now Mercedes is doing it through a miniseries on the official Mercedes Benz YouTube channel.

So far only two episodes of 3:39 minutes and 4:12 minutes in length respectively have been published. They show the evolution that has led the brand to find the key formula that this potentially incredible upcoming car will carry - at the moment, on conceptual basis -. In the first episode, the role that "SiL" (Software in the Loop) will play in order to achieve the outstanding 625 miles autonomy (1,000 kilometers) is explained in a very concise way. In this car, the management software itself will be of crucial importance since - although it is not yet known for sure - it could play a leading role in crossing the psychological barrier of a thousand kilometers of range (625 miles).

In the second episode, specific reference is made to what happens internally within all car brand teams when developing and designing a new model or concept. In general, there are typical fights between the design team against the engineers in charge of making this what it is supposed to be: a car. This time, the war takes place between the team of aerodynamic engineers and the designers team, since the air flow here plays a crucial role but so does the aesthetics of the car itself, as it is a fundamental factor for the German firm that the car must look visually spectacular.

Now, regarding the Tesla Model S Plaid, it will be very difficult for the EQXX to beat it (and that, in case the EQXX actually makes it to volume production), as it absolutely delivers on taking Tesla's performance to new "ridiculous" heights, as per a recent review on caranddriver.com: "… it's the first Tesla powered by three electric motors, two at the rear and a third at the front axle, all of them now permanent-magnet synchronous AC machines. New in the Plaid are carbon-fiber-sleeved rotors (just like it sounds, that's the spinning part of the motor). The carbon-fiber shell holds each rotor together to enable rotational speeds of up to 20,000 rpm, about 25 percent faster than before.

The Model S Plaid report goes on: "… because of the dissimilar coefficients of thermal expansion between carbon and copper, Tesla says the motor's copper wire must be wound at extremely high tension, resulting in a very efficient electromagnetic field. Furthermore, the Plaid addresses the EV shortcoming (particularly in those that employ a direct-drive transmission, like Teslas) that power falls off dramatically with speed. Tesla claims that the Plaid continues to make 1000 of its 1020 horsepower all the way to its 200-mph top speed. Despite the extra motor, the Plaid weighed in at 4828 pounds, 175 pounds lighter than the last Model S Performance."

Tesla Model S, courtesy of Tesla Inc.

Going back to the Mercedes EQXX, and despite all the disputes that could arise between the aforementioned engineering and design teams (which can be clearly seen in the videos), the truth is that judging from the first images revealed by Mercedes, the car can seems to have crucial differentiating features along with an unparalleled design line. As specified in the second video, both teams were more than satisfied with the final result, so we can hope that in a few days we will meet a prodigy of modern engineering, but also a cult model in terms of refined visual design.

Not many more aesthetic details can be seen in the course of those 2 YouTube videos, at least not many more than we already know about the Mercedes "EQXX", but it does give us an overview of what happens during the "historical journey" of a car of this caliber, from the launch of the idea to when it is finally rendered and actually made into a real model. It is not clear that Mercedes is going to release a third video about this series on its YouTube channel before the official presentation of the car on Monday; although everything is possible nowadays. Anyway, in just a few days we will know about all the details regarding the potentially "most technically evolved" electric car in the world. Will it actually be able to compete with the Model S Plaid? We wholeheartedly wish Mercedes Benz the best of luck in this new endeavor.
What do you think? Please let us know in the comment section below.

You can see the first and second video descriptions right here: first episode; second episode.

Model S images courtesy of Tesla Inc.

Nico Caballero is the VP of Finance of Cogency Power, specializing in solar energy. He also holds a Diploma in Electric Cars from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, and enjoys doing research about Tesla and EV batteries. He can be reached at @NicoTorqueNews on Twitter. Nico covers Tesla and electric vehicle latest happenings at Torque News.

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