Monterey Car Week is bringing us a surprising number of new concept electric vehicles this year.
Mercedes has unveiled the retro-inspired Silver Arrow Concept at Pebble Beach in California, and it’s an absolute stunner. The aerodynamic design is a homage to the record-breaking Mercedes W125 Grand Prix racer driven by Rudolf Caracciola, who achieved a flying mile average speed of 268.7mph on the A5 autobahn between Frankfurt and Darmstadt in 1937 – a public road record that wasn't beaten until November 2017.
The Vision EQ Silver Arrow show car, the latest electric vehicle to give a glimpse at the future of the German automaker’s new electric ‘EQ’ brand.
The one-seater vehicle is an homage to the record-breaking W 125 car from 1937.
Gorden Wagener, Chief Design Officer at Daimler AG, commented at the unveiling:
“Over 80 years ago, the historic Silver Arrows demonstrated that Mercedes-Benz was a pioneer when it came to speed thanks, among other things, to their streamlined shape. The Vision EQ Silver Arrow draws on that legacy. Intended for acceleration and driving pleasure, it embodies progressive luxury and provides an insight into the future of our design. As a result, the show car drives the design idiom of our new EQ product and technology brand to the top.”
Here’s what is “driving the design idiom” of the new EQ brand:
The body structure is made of carbon fibre and they added multiple layers of paintwork in “alubeam silver” to appear like liquid metal over the top.
As for the powertrain, Mercedes-Benz says that it is equipped with electric motors capable of a total output of 550 kW (750 hp).
It is powered by a “thin rechargeable battery in the underbody” with “a usable capacity of approx. 80 kWh and enables a calculated range of over 400 km according to the WLTP.”
Unfortunately, like the newly unveiled Infiniti and Audi electric concepts, we don’t expect that this new car from Mercedes-Benz is ever going to make it to production.
Instead, it is used as a glimpse of what the future of the EQ electric brand might hold.
In the meantime, the near-future of the brand is going to be the Mercedes-Benz EQC, an all-electric SUV coming next year.