Currently, there is no electric car on the market with a 3o0-plus mile range, as the Tesla Model S P90D has the furthest range on the market with a crazy close 294 miles. Audi claims that its upcoming all-electric SUV, current dubbed the e-tron Quattro, will boast an impressive 315-mile range, but that isn’t set to debut until 2018, so the competition could catch up by then. Especially if the claims from Mercedes-Benz are true.
New details of a 310-mile electric architecture from Mercedes-Benz have recently emerged and a concept of the upcoming car will debut at the 2016 Paris Motor Show in September. This new architecture will be a modular design that will underpin many future vehicles of many different sizes, such as sedans, coupes and SUVs. This new Mercedes-Benz electric architecture will be built with the batteries built into the floor of the chassis, which is pretty much the industry standard nowadays.
This new electric platform will be just part of a $7 billion investment by Mercedes into electric mobility. “This is another indication of our commitment to electric mobility,” said Thomas Weber, chief of Mercedes-Benz Research and Development. “We are investing massively in electric mobility, and we are convinced that the market is now ready.”
However, Mercedes claims that this new 310-mile EV won’t come to the market until the end of the decade, so it’s possible that Audi’s upcoming e-tron Quattro could hit the market first. However, regardless of when Audi’s EV SUV hits the market, it’s going to have at least one competitor from Mercedes-Benz.