Full details: Mercedes-Benz EQC 400 Tesla rival is here

Everything you need to know about Mercedes-Benz’ first electric car in Australia, the high-riding EQC 400 luxury crossover.

Mercedes isn’t worried about beaten to the punch in the fight to sell electric SUVs.

The new Mercedes EQC 400 electric SUV isn’t the first or fastest, and it can’t claim to have the longest range.

But it is a Benz.

And that, according to local boss Horst von Sanden, means that the new Mercedes EQC 400 will introduce “a more luxurious standard of electric vehicle ownership” for prestige customers.

“Our aim has never been to be the first to this market, but to offer the most complete solution possible to the question of future mobility,” von Sanden says.

“With the all-electric EQC, we are confident we have done just that.”

Mercedes-Benz will introduce the EQC 400 in 2020.

The tag line is “electric now has a Mercedes”, suggesting the EQC is the Mercedes of electric cars in the way you might describe a premium appliance as the Rolls-Royce of refrigerators.

We had a ride in a pre-production EQC in March, coming away impressed by its hushed manners and well executed cabin.

Our European correspondent was impressed following his first drive in May, reporting that the EQC “has the gliding comfort of a good limo”, and that it had an uncanny ability to predict accurate range estimates, and even the cost of its next charge.

The EQC 400 is based on Mercedes’ medium-sized GLC crossover.

Priced from $137,900 plus on-road costs, or about $150,000 drive-away, the EQC 400 isn’t particularly cheap. Based on the medium-sized Mercedes-Benz GLC, the new EQC is a size smaller than Jaguar’s I-Pace and the Tesla Model X. Likewise, Audi’s upcoming e-tron has more in common with the large Q7 than the more compact Q5.

There’s plenty of tech for the dough, including twin 10.25-inch screens hooked up to the MBUX infotainment suite – speech recognition, sat nav and smartphone connectivity are all there.

The EQC’s cabin is a special place to ride.

Power comes from a pair of 150kW motors – one each for the front and rear axle – resulting in a total of 300kW and 700Nm, and a 100km/h sprint dispatched in 5.1 seconds.

The motors are fed by an 80kWh battery which offers 417km of range measured according to the WLTP standard.

Customers get free and unlimited electricity for the first five years through the Chargefox network, which aims to have 20 charging points established early next year.

Plug into a Chargefox fast charger and you’ll get 220 kilometres of range in 30 minutes. That same range will take 27.5 hours through a domestic power point, or about 7 hours and 20 minutes using an optional home wall box kit.

Mercedes expects customers to make use of free fast charging.

Like any new Benz, the EQC 400 is covered by a three-year, unlimited kilometre warranty, but its battery is supported by an eight-year, 160,000 kilometre guarantee.

Mercedes’ circa $150,000 on-the-road price puts it between a pair of similar-sized high-performance AMG models in the 287kW Mercedes-AMG GLC 43 and 375kW Mercedes-AMG GLC 63 S.

The EQC’s closest rival is likely to be Audi’s e-tron, which matches the Merc’s 300kW peak power, takes a little longer (5.7s) to hit 100km/h, but offers another 29km of range.

Originally slated to arrive this year, the e-tron has been delayed to 2020.

Mercedes’ machine costs a fair wedge more than Jaguar’s I-Pace, which starts at $119,000 plus on-road costs – about $132,500 drive-away – while offering superior range and acceleration.

Tesla’s decision to drop the cheapest Model X SUV from its line-up means the Benz comes in cheaper than the American car’s $151,824 plus on-road costs, or about $161,000 drive-away entry point.

But Tesla fans will argue that the Model X’s larger size (including the option of six or seven-seat versatility), longer 507km range and sharper 4.6-second dash to 100km/h mean it is worth a look.

It also has those ‘falcon wing’ doors. Photo: AFP

And you need to spend more with Jaguar to match the Merc’s features.

Customers with cash to burn could also consider Porsche’s Taycan. Set to arrive next year, the cheapest Taycan is tipped to cost about $200,000 plus on-road costs while packing 390kW of power, a 100km/h claim of 4.0 seconds, and 407km of range.

Think of the Taycan as the Porsche of electric cars. Photo: AP

Porsche and Tesla both offer hugely powerful range-topping variants with supercar-rivalling thrust, but Mercedes fans will have to wait a while until AMG versions of its EQ electric range go on sale.