Mercedes-Benz's electric model family will grow substantially in 2021 and have in Mercedes-Benz EQA its first and most compact addition — later this year we will see the arrival of EQB, EQE and EQS, the latter already being driven by us, albeit a development prototype.
Returning to the new EQA, it was developed based on the MFA-II platform (the same as the GLA), now featuring front-wheel drive and an electric motor with 190 hp (140 kW) and 375 Nm, powered by a battery 66.5 kWh. The autonomy is fixed at 426 km (WLTP).
Does all this allow you to measure up to competitors like the Volvo XC40 Recharge, Volkswagen ID.4, Nissan Ariya or the Tesla Model Y? To discover it, and after Joaquim Oliveira, it was Diogo Teixeira's turn to travel to Madrid to test the latest Mercedes-Benz model.
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The "costs" of electrification
Since the EQA shares the platform with the GLA, there are some comparisons that turn out to be unavoidable, especially between this EQA 250 with 190 hp and the GLA 220 d with… 190 hp.
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And it is precisely in this comparison that we come across some of the “costs” of electrification. For starters, at 2040 kg the EQA is considerably heavier than the 220 d, which weighs 1670 kg.
Where this difference is most felt is in the performance chapter, where despite the immediate delivery of torque, the electric model is not capable of keeping up with the Diesel from 0 to 100 km/h: it's 8.9s from the first against 7.3s of the second.
The “culprit” behind this increase in weight, the 66.5 kWh battery, is also behind the lower luggage capacity of the EQA, with this settling at 340 liters (95 liters less than in the GLA).
In the field of benefits, in addition to the ecological ones, there are also economical ones, with the cost per kilometer behind the wheel of the Mercedes-Benz EQA being lower, as well as its price, it seems.
Despite having only scheduled arrival in the spring and prices are not yet "closed", they should be around 50 thousand euros. Bearing in mind that the variant with a diesel engine of equivalent power starts at €55 399, the savings are in sight.