Mercedes-Benz has launched the EQC electric SUV in India at an introductory price of INR 99.30 lakh (on-road). The first 50 units of the car will be sold with the aforementioned price in six cities in phase 1. With the launch, Mercedes-Benz has officially become the first automaker in the luxury car segment to introduce a full-electric car in India. And needless to say, the company has thus set the benchmarks for other monikers that are yet to hit the Indian market shortly.
The EQC gets its power from an 85 kWh
lithium-ion battery that is claimed to return a maximum of 400 km of range on a
single charge. There are two asynchronous motors which deliver a combined
output of 408 hp and 765 Nm of torque. There are various driving modes to
choose from - Eco, Comfort, Max Range, Sport, and Individual.
On the inside, the electric car gets a
12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment system and a 12.3-inch instrument cluster
which comes with a connected tech, wireless charger, automatic AC, electric
sunroof, cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, ambient lighting among others.
In terms of safety, the car gets seven airbags and Attention Assist and other
notable features.
In addition to this, the company is also
providing the EV with a wall-mounted charger as complimentary that will be
installed at whichever location the buyer wants. The installation process will
also be carried out by the firm’s dealership from where the car is purchased.
The Mercedes-Benz EQC needs 10 hours to
fully charge via a 7.5 kW charger that comes along with it. However, a 15A
socket can also be used to charge the electric car from zero to full in 21
hours. Apart from that, if one chooses to go with a 50 kW DC charger, then the
time comes down significantly.
At the moment, the Mercedes-Benz EQC faces
no rivalry in its segment since there's no luxury electric car available. But
the competition is likely to get interesting once monikers like the Audi e-Tron
and the Jaguar i-Pace hits the Indian market. Mercedes has rolled out the EQC
in 13 locations spanning across 6 cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Pune,
Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai. The Phase II roll-out will cover other metro
cities.