Mercedes EQXX first drive: The future of Mercedes

Mercedes had a singular goal: Build a one-off concept vehicle that could travel 1000 kilometers (621 miles) on one charge from a battery pack slightly smaller than 100kWh. The result was the EQXX, a coupe that looks as good as the technology that powers it. Typically these vehicles are off limits to anyone outside of a chosen few within an automaker. But Mercedes decided to let us behind the wheel for a test drive.

Designed to slip through the air with as little drag as possible, the EQXX doesn’t wow with off-the-line performance. Instead, the power really comes after you’ve gotten to highway speed. But even then, the concept vehicle is an efficiency machine that feels like the future. Mercedes has no plans to put the EQXX into production, but what it’s learning now will at some point land in its vehicles. Watch the video below for the full story.

Lucid’s Air Grand Touring EV delivers luxurious speed and range

We were impressed with the Lucid Air Dream Edition earlier this year, even though it was just a pre-production vehicle. Well, the automaker gave time behind the wheel of its latest top-of-the-line Grand Touring Performance model with all the proper pieces of hardware and software ready to go. This is a Lucid you can actually buy — although the starting price is $179,000. We have to say, it’s better than anticipated.

The Grand Touring and Grand Touring Performance deliver on the Lucid promise to take on the German sport sedans in an all-EV package. The newish automaker was so confident in the 1,050 horsepower Performance trim level that it took it to the Goodwood Festival hill climb and was victorious in the production vehicle category. The regular $154,000 Grand Touring model is a touch slower — it takes 3 seconds to hit 60MPH, rather than 2.6 in the Performance — but you’ll get another 70 miles of range (516 total, compared to the Performance’s 446). 

All of which is to say, the Lucid Air GT models are more than just fast electric sedans. Check out the video below for the full story.

Cadillac’s Lyriq SUV is the exact EV it needed to build

Luxury automakers can’t phone in an EV. Especially now as the electric vehicle market matures, it’s no longer a case that a car is a “good EV” but instead a “good car that happens to be an EV.” Cadillac seems to have gotten the message as it drops the …