The EQC Kicks Off Mercedes-Benz’s Electric Journey In India At Rs 99.30 Lakh

The Mercedes-Benz EQC is the first luxury-electric car to be launched in India, beating the Audi e-tron and the Jaguar i-Pace to the start line

• The EQC is available in only one variant.

• Mercedes-Benz has kept the styling of the EQC quite conventional.

• It is sized similarly to the GLC but price-wise, it is closer to the GLS.

• It sports an 80kWh battery pack that supplies power to two electric motors.

• Total combined output of the two motors is 408PS and 760Nm.

• The NEDC specified range of the EQC stands at over 450km.

• The EQC has no real rivals in India at the moment.

Luxury cars are expensive. Electric cars are expensive. Cars that come to India via the CBU route are expensive. The Mercedes-Benz EQC ticks all these boxes, so it’s no surprise that Mercedes is demanding Rs 99.30 lakh (ex-showroom India) for it. This price is however only for the first 50 EQC units to be sold in India. But what exactly do you get for all that money? 

The EQC looks different from anything in the Mercedes-Benz lineup. The curves all over the body do a good job of masking the few sharp lines that exist. The large front grille, however, with its umpteen horizontal chrome-lined slats and a huge Mercedes logo draws people’s attention to itself. That said, the EQC is based on the GLC and borrows a similar overall silhouette. At the rear, things are a little bit more sober; the EQC doesn’t look electric from this angle. The only giveaway is the green number plate and the absence of exhaust pipes. The connected tail lights look classy nonetheless. With a price so high, the EQC gives the GLS a run for its money but in terms of size, it shares more with the GLC.

The interior of the EQC is understated, to say the least. Mercedes-Benz has followed the GLC mantra, with a few twists here and there. The air-con vents, for example, are rectangular here, compared to the round ones we are used to seeing on regular Mercedes models. And like regular Mercedes models, you get two horizontally laid out screens, with the first one acting as an instrument cluster and the second one, which is a touch unit, taking care of the infotainment duties among other things.

While looks are one thing, the most important aspect of an electric car has to be the numbers it can throw up. So here we go. The EQC comes with an 80kWh battery pack that powers two electric motors, one on each axle. The total output of these motors is 408PS and 760Nm. As per NEDC (New European Driving Cycle), the EQC can be driven more than 450km with the battery pack fully charged. However, on our first drive, we couldn’t verify that claim due to certain limitations. It will, however, give you a minimum range of 250km, no matter how you drive. The EQC is capable of doing the 0-100kmph sprint in 5.1 seconds, which is kind of impressive when you factor in its 2.5 tonnes of body mass. 

The EQC is being offered with a 7.4kWh home charger that the German carmaker will install at your home. It can charge the EQC’s batteries from a paltry 10 percent, all the way to 100 percent in 10 hours. The car also comes with an emergency charging socket. It works on a regular 15amp socket, delivering a maximum of 3.4kWh of electricity, and can complete the 10 to 100 percent charge in 21 hours. Not the quickest but it is, in essence, an emergency measure. If you really want to fasten the charging process, you can use a 50kW DC fast charger that can complete the 10 to 100 per cent charge in just 1.5 hours. 

Now that we have gotten the electric mumbo-jumbo out of the way, let’s dive into the features of the EQC. Mercedes is offering a head-up display, two 12.3-inch screens with the latest MBUX infotainment system, touchpads on the steering wheel, smartphone-based connected car tech, a 13-speaker Burmester sound system, three-zone climate control, and 64 levels of ambient lighting. You also get drive modes to tweak the power output, the responsiveness of the motors, and the electric-specific regenerative braking that can not only send charge back to the batteries, but also aid in single-pedal driving.

Since the Mercedes-Benz EQC is the first of its kind, it doesn’t have any rivals at the moment. The electric Merc will face competition from the upcoming Audi e-tron, Jaguar i-Pace as well as the Teslas, which could arrive as soon as 2021. It however can only be had in six cities at the moment - Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai. So, the EQC will appeal to those who want to be the first to adapt to electric vehicles in India, without really compromising on luxury and comfort.