Mercedes unveils Vision EQXX electric concept car at scaled-back CES

Jan. 3 (UPI) -- Mercedes-Benz introduced a concept of its Vision EQXX electric car, which it says is capable of traveling more than 620 miles on a single charge Monday to kick off a scaled-back in-person Consumer Electronics Show.

In the virtual presentation, the automaker said the Vision EQXX is "the most efficient Mercedes-Benz ever built" stating it could travel equal to the distance from New York to Cincinnati on a single charge and a driver in the United States would only have to fully recharge twice per month.

"The Vision EQXX is an advanced car in so many dimensions and it even looks stunning and futuristic," Ola Kallenius, chairman of the board of management of Daimler AG and Mercedes Benz AG said. "With that, it underlines where our entire company is headed: we will build the world's most desirable electric cars."

The body of the concept car incorporates 3D printing and uses mushroom fibers, cactus-based biomaterial and 100% bamboo fiber in the interior.

It also features a 47.5-inch screen that stretches around the front half of the vehicle.

The Vision EQXX was built to hold almost 100 kWh of energy but has 50% less volume, with solar panels that also feed the battery system for up to 25 km of additional range.

"We said, what if you could drive 1,000 kilometers on one battery charge, but you're not allowed to put a monster battery in the car, and it must resemble a real car that can carry four people, and it must be done with technology that could end up in a series car," Kallenius said.

The Vision EQXX does not currently have any production plans in place but is viewed as a competitor to other luxury electric cars such as Porche's Taycan and Audi's e-tron GT.

While the Mercedes-Benz presentation was held virtually, CES is set to return to an in-person venue in Las Vegas for the first time since 2020. The Consumer Technology Association, which hosts the event, says more than 2,200 exhibitors had committed to the show with about 3,300 media members registered for in-person attendance.

Automaker General Motors and major tech names such as Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Intel and Facebook's parent company, Meta, canceled plans to attend the physical event.

But CTA President Gary Shapiro said the event would continue in-person with attendees required to wear face masks and provide proof of vaccination. Cancelling the event, he said, would damage smaller companies who made investments to their exhibits.

"CES will and must go on," Shapiro wrote in a blog post. "It will have many more small companies than large ones. It may have big gaps on the show floor. Certainly, it will be different from previous years. It may be messy. But innovation is messy. It is risky and uncomfortable."