The Mercedes-Benz EQA will be the new entry point for Mercedes’ EQ sub-brand and it will be largely based on the second-generation GLA that debuted recently.
At the unveil of the second-gen GLA, Mercedes-Benz has officially confirmed the coming of a new entry-level electric vehicle, called the EQA. It will make its global debut in 2020 and its body style will be greatly similar to that of the new GLA. As Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Källenius would like to put it, “It’s definitely a love child”, he said, referencing the EV’s resemblance to the GLA.
The GLA is particularly a good base for an electric vehicle more than a hatchback because of its higher ground clearance and higher roofline. This allows more space under the seats for a battery pack to be housed without eating too much of the interior room. Mercedes’ EQ EV division has also launched its first electric model, the EQC, as an SUV, with the GLB-based EQB is also on the cards. The EQA will be a new entry point to Mercedes’ EQ EV line-up and the smallest offering from the sub-brand.
The EQA was first debuted in concept form at the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show as a three-door hatchback. The final production form of EQA will certainly take design inspiration from the show car’s visual cues, including the front grille and unique front fascia, along with bespoke front and rear lighting.
The Mercedes-Benz EQA will go on sale in the international market in 2020 and it is expected to have a range of about 400 km on a single charge. It will be part of a 10-car EQ line-up that will come to showrooms by 2022. The EQA will be produced at Mercedes’ Hambach plant in France alongside the all-electric derivatives of its sub-brand Smart. Britta Seeger, Mercedes sales and marketing boss, said: “This EQ will be the first Mercedes model ever built in France.”
The EQA will be underpinned by a brand new electric vehicle platform which has been developed by Mercedes for use in all its upcoming EQ models. It is known as the EVA (Electric Vehicle Architecture). This new platform has been so developed that it allows all EQ models to be built alongside Mercedes’ conventional compact car models in the factories that produce the A-class, B-class, CLA, CLA Shooting Brake and GLA.
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This platform is quite flexible and can support either front-, rear- or four-wheel drive, with either one or two electric motors. It gets a flat floor structure where a scalable battery can be positioned low down, operating on an 800V electrical system that can provide rapid charging.
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Mercedes hasn’t yet shared any details about the powertrains of the EQA, but like the EQC, we expect the it to have a dual motor setup where one motor will be placed under the hood and one will be positioned on the rear axle. This setup delivers a combined 272hp and more than 500Nm of torque in the EQC and a similar setup can be expected in the EQA as well. Mercedes is yet to reveal if they will bring the EQ brand to India but Mercedes has a host of new launches lined up ahead of them including the GLE, GLS, GLB and the A-Class sedan in India.
