Mercedes Now Will Delay EQC EV from 2021 to 2022 in US

If you’ve been waiting to get your hands on the Mercedes-Benz EQC, the first in a line of 10 new EVs, add a year to the wait time if you were expecting to head down to the showroom next month. For US customers, the first shipments have been delayed from the first quarter of 2020 to the first quarter of 2021. Mercedes-Benz here said the delay was because of a strong demand for EVs in the European market.

At the same time, parent Daimler couldn’t help but notice how slowly premium EVs have been selling, other than Teslas. The EQC is about the same as the company’s compact GLC combustion-engine SUV. The EQC will list for about $70,000. It has two electric motors that produce 402 hp and a claimed 0-60 mph time of 4.8 seconds.

According to Mercedes-Benz USA:

In a recent direction from Daimler AG, it is a strategic decision to first support the growing customer demand for the EQC in Europe.

There is no question there’s greater demand for EVs in Europe, which demand took off like a rocket when the EU Parliament in April mandated a 37.5 percent reduction of new-car emissions by 2020.

The EQC uses an 80-kWh battery, which should be good for 280 miles of driving on the New European Driving Cycle tests. The US EPA cycle returns lower results, sometimes from 10 to 20 percent. The EQC is being built in Bremen, German, and the factory recently expanded capacity. The EQC is Mercedes’ first platform dedicated exclusively to EVs (although, yes, one might mistake it for a GLC).

If a Mercedes is not dissimilar from an Audi or Jaguar in terms of targeted customers, the news is soft stateside. Based on 11-month sales, the highly regarded Jaguar i-Pace – the current Extreme Tech Car of the Year – will sell 2,600 units. The Audi e-tron will sell 5,000. In comparison, the upscale Tesla Model X SUV will sell about 15,000 units; the closer-to-mainstream Tesla Model 3 will sell about 122,000 units. Tesla also has an advantage in range. While some are suspicious about Tesla’s marketing hype, those same competitors are also jealous of how Teslas with larger battery packs can get 325 miles of range on the US efficiency tests, which are roughly 10 percent to 20 percent stricter than European tests.

The US won’t lack for other kinds of EVs. More than a half-dozen automakers have announced electric pickup trucks, and Ford has chosen the Mustang monicker for its new compact electric SUV.

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