Mercedes-Benz Completes a 1,000-kilometer Electric Drive Thanks to its Energy-Efficient Architecture

CTO Markus Schaefer, speaking as the manufacturer celebrated the successful test drive of its EQXX prototype vehicle over more than 1,000 kilometers from Sindelfingen, Germany, to the Cote d'Azur, France, on a single charge, said efficient design was critical to maximizing the range of an electric car.

"We optimize efficiency first, and then we look at how many battery modules we put in the vehicle," Schaefer said at a media roundtable, adding that consumers should be able to choose the battery size that best suits their requirements.

Automobile manufacturers ranging from Mercedes-Benz to Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and China's Nio (NYSE:NIO) are racing to develop longer-range vehicles that allay customer concerns about the absence of broad charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.

Mercedes debuted its Vision EQXX prototype in January, suggesting that some of the car's components will find their way into production cars in 2-3 years.

Mercedes-Benz claimed the car used 8.7 kilowatt hours of energy per 100 kilometers on the 11-and-a-half-hour trip to France, roughly double the efficiency of current Mercedes models and Tesla's longest-range vehicle, the Model S 60.

According to automobile comparison website carwow, Mercedes' EQS has the greatest range on the market at the moment, with 768 kilometers, followed by Tesla's Model S Long Range, which has a range of up to 652 kilometers.

"There will be a further rise for a period of time before a reduction occurs, which will occur until charging infrastructure is as widespread as gas stations," Schaefer said, declining to specify the range Mercedes aims for in future models.