Mercedes-Benz has released imagery of its Concept EQA, set for a full unveil Tuesday at the Frankfurt Motor Show. It’s a compact electric car, and it screams hot hatchback from the future.
This model is a riff on the underpinnings of the Generation EQ concept that was introduced last year at the Paris Motor Show, and the latest vehicle to add the suite 10 EVs Mercedes-Benz has promised by 2022. It follows the debut of the Smart Vision EQ fortwo Conceptshown last month. Mercedes-Benz design chief Gordon Wagener has been responsible for a flurry of concepts that the German automaker has teased in the past two years.
And while the Mercedes-Benz F015 concept looked more like a Blade Runner prop, the EQA borrows from its sculptural language and angular doors. It represents the sportier side of the product lineup. The front end styling, at least, will likely represent what all Mercedes-badged EQ models will look like when they start going on sale in 2019.
EQ cars are also expected to showcase all of the mobility plans parent Daimler has been working on, such as autonomous and connected technologies that are supposed to better enable car-sharing.
The EQA concept sketch lacks real-world inhibitions, like regulatory side mirrors. But expect a slightly less radical version of it to fill a space currently occupied by the gasoline-powered CLA-Class within the next five years, a timeline that’s shaping up to be a compelling era in the car industry. And for Mercedes, it will be a test of how their vision of the future of cars works in reality.
We’ll know more about that vision next week when the EQA is completely unveiled.