Despite the long list of manufacturers that skipped the Paris Auto Show, this year’s show still turned out to be pretty good. We got to lay eyes on cars like the Renault Trezor, the Lexus UX Concept, and the Volkswagen I.D. concept. As far as the internet is concerned, the Honda Civic Type R concept pretty much stole the show, but over at the Mercedes booth was this gem of a concept that is being called the “Generation EQ.” Said to represent a whole fleet of electric cars that Mercedes will produce in the coming years, the EQ features a scalable platform, 402 horsepower from an all-electric drivetrain, and a range of up to 310 miles. Able to hit 62 mph in less than five seconds, Mercedes claims that this concept not only has all-wheel drive but is also near-production ready, so we may even see a production variant in the near future.

If the concepts that have debuted over the past couple years have taught us anything, it’s that the cars of the future will be somewhat crazy and the interiors will look more like something out of a science fiction movie than the reality that we’re used to. But, being almost production ready means that the level of science fiction inside the EQ is kept to a full roar. Sure, that might hurt the Trekkie inside of you a bit, but don’t tear up just yet, the cabin is still pretty wild for something that appears to be exceptionally functional.

Gorden Wagener, the Head of Design for Daimler AG, said, “Generation EQ is hot and cool. Its fascination lies in a reinterpretation of our design philosophy of sensual purity, the aim being to create an avant-garde, contemporary and distinctive electro-look. At the same time, the design of the visionary show car, which has been reduced to the essentials, reveals an alluring progressivity.”

On preliminary inspection, this concept looks very promising and is sure to please the masses if it ever makes it into production. So, before that happens, let’s take a good look at this concept and figure out just what it’s all about.

2016 Mercedes‑Benz "Generation EQ" Concept

Specifications
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  • Model: 2016 Mercedes‑Benz "Generation EQ" Concept
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Pros
Cons

Exterior

One of the most identifying parts of a car is its front end. More specifically, the layout of the nose and the front grille. With electric cars, there is no need for a radiator grille, so how do manufacturers boast the identifying birthmarks on future cars? Well, Mercedes has the answer. Check out that electrified grille up front. There’s no need for an air passage here, and to keep things from getting boring, Mercedes created an LED grille with a big fat Mercedes emblem right in the middle. If you’ve paid attention to any recent Mercedes models, you’ll recognize the layout of these LED strips as they form a design that looks quite similar to the physical grilles on the brand’s road-going fuel drinkers. It’s definitely a unique take on how to keep the front end of electric cars stylish without getting too out of hand. The headlights are integrated into each corner with the top, and sides of the grille area highlighted by a long LED strip. This is probably one of the sexiest and down-to-earth front ends that we’ve seen on an all-electric concept.

Because of the work that went into the identifying grille area, Mercedes was able to keep the front fascia relatively mundane without sacrificing the overall sportiness of the vehicle. A concave layout makes up the lower portion of the fascia, with a small insert on each corner. It’s unclear whether or not these function as actually brake coolers up front, but it’s possible. Otherwise, they could just be there for appearance and could provide a prime location for the mounting of LED fog lights. It’s also important to note the hood and the roof are finished in a gloss black that matches the surround of that electrified grille.

Moving over to the sides, it’s pretty clear that this concept is designed around the basis of a smaller SUV or Crossover. As such, it has all of the right proportions that consumers seem to love at this point in time. The roof slopes downward just a bit in the rear. The center portion of the roof is finished in a gloss black, while the primary exterior finish of silver outlines the sides of the roof, further emphasizing the concept’s sporty nature. The door glass and stationary rear quarter glass comes in the form of traditional Mercedes styling, while the side profile of the car is relatively smooth. The side skirts are outlined by the same blue LED lighting, while the doors are void of normal entry handles and the side view mirrors have been replaced by small camera units – two things that we’ll be seeing on more production cars in the near future.

The smooth nature of the body and futuristic styling carry around to the rear as well. Despite the fact that the overall design cues of the car as somewhat tame, the rear end encompasses everything you would want from Mercedes in a sporty SUV. A gloss black overhang sits at the top of the rear hatch to help accent the rear end. The rear glass is short and wide as is the hatch itself. The taillights are LED just like the front headlights and are also outlined by the same blue LED lighting that makes up the front grille and the accents on the side skirts. Those taillights are connected by a gloss black insert with a Mercedes emblem in the middle. Down below there is a large black insert that also features blue LED lighting strips and a small license plate recess. All told, it’s a smooth and beautiful design that does appear to be production ready.

Interior

The interior of the Mercedes EQ is all about form and functionality but has just the right mix of futuristic design and usable technology. The upper tier of the dash is wrapped in a dark brown leather that wraps around to the upper area of the door trim. A blue LED strip is positioned just below the brown leather. Just below the blue LED stripe sits a relatively smooth dashboard. On each corner, there is a weird cutout that looks to have some kind of blue holographic projection. Ahead of the steering wheel is a 24-inch wide instrument cluster that also appears to serve as the navigation and infotainment display. This floating display sits on a shelf of sorts that features three small rectangular LED displays. Mercedes has yet to disclose what these smaller displays do, or if they are just there for lighting accents, but they could serve as warning lights.

The steering wheel is white and silver, with three spokes. The two side spokes feature touch buttons that serve as the traditional thumb buttons that we’re all used to seeing on modern road-going cars. A Mercedes emblem sits on the central hub and is surrounded by a blue LED strip. The doors feature small LED backlights that provide a relaxing ambiance of sorts and feature a side-view display in the front corner. There are traditional pull handles on the door trim that a finished in a bronze coloration and feature small, touch-sensitive buttons to control the windows.

The center console is outlined in Rose Gold and has a floating appearance in the center of the vehicle. All controls on the center console are touch sensitive, so don’t expect to find any physical buttons here. A small, touchscreen display rests at the front of the center console and allows the driver to control various functions like the automatic HVAC controls, for instance. All of these displays and touch buttons also adapt to the car’s various driving modes of charging processes which Mercedes claims to “allow fast and intuitive recognition.”

There is a total of four individual seats inside the EQ. That’s right; no bench seating in the rear here. The side bolsters of the seats are wrapped in a light-white leather with perforations that give a view of rose gold particles. The center sections are done up in deep brown, just like the upper tier of the dash and the door trim. The rear side of the front seatbacks are gloss black and feature TFT monitors for rear passenger entertainment on the go.

Upon entry to the vehicle, a “welcome mood” is presented to the driver that turns into an electric blue once he has taken his place in the driver’s seat. The perforated lights in the doors and seats slowly dim out while the large instrument cluster slowly brightens to the current level of charge. The ambient lighting really gives a sense of comfort inside the vehicle. After the driver has entered the vehicle, the navigation screen displays all of the destinations that the car can reach on its current battery charge – hopefully, you’ll be able to charge once you get there.

Drivetrain

This baby is all electric. Not only that, but Mercedes says this model is representative of an entire fleet of all-electric vehicles that will be “on offensive” in the near future. Of course, we’ve heard things like this before, but this concept promises a range of about 310 miles with a battery system that is said to have a capacity of over 70 kWh. They are sourced from Daimler’s subsidiary Deutsche Accumotive and are being called high-efficiency lithium-ion batteries.

The battery pack hidden away beyond the metal of the EQ delivers life-giving electricity to two electric motors on the front and rear axles. That means this baby, true to its SUV-ish nature is all-wheel drive. Those electric motors deliver a combined power output of 300 kW or about 402 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque. This is, of course, scalable with cheaper production models ultimately delivering less power and torque. These figures are said to be the maximum values, so don’t expect to see more from a production model. With this kind of power, the EQ can hit 62 mph in under five seconds, and when you figure in the torque, it can probably tear down a house if you really wanted it to.

Charging capabilities are handled by induction charging or a wall box. Mercedes also mentions a Mercedes-branded energy storage system that could work together with wireless charging or a wall box. Ultimately, the idea behind the storage units would be to store solar energy for customers who happen to have solar panels installed on their homes. Currently, charging capacities for most electric cars range between 50 and 150 kWh. Mercedes, however, claims that capacities of up to 300 kW are possible in the future. This would charge the car enough to have a 62-mile range in as little as five minutes.

All told, this all sounds very promising, but I’m curious to see if Mercedes can live up to the hype it's creating with its actual production models. We’ve been told so many times that we would see amazing all-electric range from cars, then we get crapped on with cars like the Nissan Leaf and its 84- to 107-mile range or BMW i3 and its 114 to 180-mile range. With 310 miles of range and the ability to get 62 miles out of five minutes of charging, Mercedes could very well open the door to electric vehicles for a lot of people who don’t want to suffer range anxiety. Mercedes seems pretty adamant about pushing an entire model range of all-electric vehicles and it sounds like we’ll be seeing them within the next five to 10 years. If Mercedes can really deliver on everything it's boasting now, other manufacturers like Nissan, BMW, Chevy, and even Tesla will have a new battle on their hands.