After promising the journey earlier this year, Mercedes-Benz has successfully taken its VISION EQXX concept EV over 1,000 km (621 miles) in routine traffic on a single charge. The journey began in cold rainy conditions in Sindelfingen, Germany, and successfully crossed the finish line in the town of Cassis on the Côte d’Azur in the south of France with range to spare.

Mercedes-Benz first starting teasing the VISION EQXX in the fall of 2020, touting it as “the highest efficiency electric car in the world,” with 1,200 km (750 miles) of range. A year later, Mercedes was teasing silhouettes of the VISION EQXX, but promoting a slightly lower range of 1,000 km on a single charge.

Nevertheless, we were excited to learn more about the futuristic concept when it was officially unveiled this past January. We learned about a whole bunch of other impressive technology featured in the VISION EQXX, including its solar roof, which adds up to 25 km (16 miles) of renewable range during a 1,000 km journey.

During Mercedes’ “Innovation and Technology Day” in Los Angeles, we got to see a VISION EQXX up close and hear about its design from many of the experts who helped design it. During our talks, the Mercedes team spoke to the 1,000 km real-life range in the VISION EQXX and shared plans to drive it all the way from Germany to the French Riviera on a single charge to demonstrate the potential of its technology.

Following news out of Germany, an entire team at Mercedes-Benz helped the VISION EQXX concept successfully complete its 1,000 km journey with some juice left to spare.

Promises kept: Mercedes EQXX goes 1,000 km on a charge

News of the successful journey was shared in a comprehensive press release from Mercedes, detailing the journey of the VISION EQXX from Sindelfingen near Stuttgart, on the autobahn, across the Swiss Alps and Northern Italy, to Cassis in the French Riviera.

Following routine speeds throughout the 1,000+ km trek around Europe, the average consumption was a record-breaking 8.7 kWh per 100 kilometers (7.1 kWh per 62 miles) – Concrete evidence of the industry-leading efficiency the German automaker has been promising the public since 2020. Markus Schäfer, a member of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG and chief technology officer responsible for development and purchasing, shared his thoughts on the trip:

With our successful road trip to the South of France, we’ve shown that efficiency is the new currency. And this success also clearly speaks for our new collaborative development process, incorporating many learnings from the Mercedes-AMG F1 team and its cutting-edge expertise in electric powertrains. The VISION EQXX is the result of a comprehensive program that provides a blueprint for the future of automotive engineering. Many of the innovative developments are already being integrated into production, some of them in the next generation of modular architecture for compact and midsize Mercedes-Benz vehicles. And the journey continues. With the VISION EQXX, we will keep testing the limits of what’s possible.

At the end of the 11 hour and 32 minutes of drive time through Europe, the VISION EQXX had cruised 1,008 km (626 miles) with a remaining range around 140 km (87 miles) — plenty of energy to get it to a DC fast charger for the ride back. Check out the VISION EQXX’s journey for yourself below:

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