Mercedes-Benz EQA EV family expands

May 6, 2021May 6, 2021 John Carey 1675 Views EQA 300, EQA 350, Mercedes-Benz EQA, Mercedes-EQ EQA

Though the EQA 250 is still a month from first deliveries Australia, in Germany Mercedes-Benz has already revealed additional upmarket variants of the compact SUV .

Both the EQA 300 and 350 are dual-motor EVs and all-wheel drive. In contrast, the single-motor EQA 250, due to arrive here in June, is a front-driver.

Unusually, Mercedes-Benz has chosen different types of electric motor for the all-wheel-drive EQAs. The front motors are asynchronous, as in the 250, but the rear motors are synchronous types. This means there are permanent magnets, presumably made from rare earth elements, in their rotors.

In a synchronous motor the rotor turns in lockstep with the magnetic fields moving around the stator. Asynchronous motors don’t need rare earths, but their rotor spins at a slightly slower speed than the stator’s moving magnetic fields.

Mercedes-Benz hasn’t provided power output info for the individual motors in the 300 and the 350. Instead, the company quotes combined maximum power and torque outputs for each pair of motors. The EQA 300 has 168kW and 390Nm, while the EQA 350 has 215kW and 520Nm.

All-wheel-drive EQA 300 and 350 have an asynchronous front motor like the EQA 250, but a synchronous rear motor

In comparison, the single motor of the EQA 250 delivers 140kW and 375Nm. Although the EQA 300 doesn’t have a lot more power, the superior traction of its electric all-wheel-drive system makes it significantly quicker 0-100km/h than the EQA 250. The EQA 350, on the other hand, is a really snappy performer; Mercedes-Benz claims 0-100km/h takes only 6.0 seconds.

The all-wheel-drive EQAs have the same 66.5kWh lithium-ion battery pack as the EQA 250, and a similar 400km-plus driving range according to the WLTP test standard.

The price of the well-equipped EQA 250 is $76,800 before on-road costs. If Mercedes-Benz Australia decided to add the EQA 300 and EQA 350 to the line-up they’ll obviously be more expensive. Using German pricing as a guide, the EQA 300 would be around $87,000 and the EQA 350 a little over $90,000.

There are still more variations on the EQA theme to come. Mercedes-Benz says it plans to launch a long-range version later this year.

John Carey

Grew up in country NSW, way back when petrol was laced with lead. Has written about cars and the car business for more than 35 years, working full-time and freelance for leading mags, major newspapers and websites in Australia and (sometimes) overseas. Avidly interested in core EV technologies like motors and batteries, and believes the switch to electromobility definitely should be encouraged. Is waiting patiently for someone to make a good and affordable EV that will fit inside his tiny underground garage in northern Italy, where he's lived for the past decade. Likes the BMW i3, but it's just too damned wide...