Mercedes-Benz sometimes takes a vehicle in their lineup and gives it the extreme off-road treatment. This time, they’ve done it to the electric EQC and it looks bonkers.
Called the EQC 4×4², Mercedes-Benz calls it the “electric car of extremes.” This currently one-off concept is based on the EQC 400 4MATIC. It features upgraded multi-link portal axles and an upgraded exterior sound speaker that is built into the headlamps.
It’s twice as high as the regular EQC, and Mercedes points out that it sits 58 millimeters higher than the G-Class. It has 40 centimeters of water fording ability. The forward approach angle is 31.8-degrees and the departure angle is 33-degrees.
The portal axles mount at the same mounting points as the standard EQC suspension.
We’ll allow Mercedes to explain the new loud speaker;
The production EQC uses the external noise generator (Acoustic Vehicle Alert System, AVAS) required by law to reproduce the sounds. The EQC 4×4² has a more powerful AVAS composed specifically for it and uses the headlamps as external speakers for this purpose. The reason being that the sound experts of Mercedes-Benz have made creative use of the available installation space in the headlamp housings — the “lampspeaker” was born.
The Mercedes-Benz EQC 4×4² is a one-off at this time, but they’ve put two other 4×4² vehicles into series production before, so they might end up pulling the trigger on this one, too.
