Mercedes had us fairly excited when it revealed the EQT Idea again in 2021, displaying a classy small individuals provider that might have been probably the greatest wanting such automobiles ever made. Nonetheless, for the manufacturing model that it just lately revealed, the producer fully ditched the idea’s distinctive entrance fascia, which might have considerably differentiated it from the inner combustion-engined T-Class on which it’s primarily based.
In reality, you’ll be hard-pressed to inform EQT and T-Class aside with out seeing the badging or whether or not the car has an exhaust pipe or not. It’s positively a disappointment within the design division principally as a result of our expectations have been set excessive by the research, but additionally as a result of the T-Class’ design rapidly betrays the truth that it’s primarily based on the Renault Kangoo van.
The newest Kangoo can be the idea for the Nissan Townstar and Opel/Vauxhall Combo, each of which can be found as EVs with the very same specs. All these associated automobiles are manufactured by Renault at its Mauberg plant in France.
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The EQT borrows its powertrain and battery from the Kangoo E-Tech, so it contains a 45 kWh battery pack that feeds a front-mounted 122 horsepower (90 kW) motor with a torque ranking of 245 Nm (180 lb-ft). These numbers received’t make the EQT significantly fast – we estimate that it’s going to want round or over 13 seconds to succeed in 100 km/h (62 mph).
Mercedes says the EQT is sweet for a WLTP vary of 175 miles (280 km) and it may well cost from 20 to 80 p.c in 38 minutes at a most 80 kW; its on-board AC charger tops out at 11 kW as normal, however it may be upgraded to 22 kW, which can be capable of add 170 km (105 miles) of vary in half-hour, in response to the producer.
At first solely the short-wheelbase EQT will probably be supplied, however a long-wheelbase mannequin will probably be added to the vary at a later date. There will even be what the producer calls a “micro camper” model of referred to as the EQT Marco Polo, previewed by the close-to-production idea within the gallery above.
