Nico Rosberg posted a video on his YouTube channel with the caption “Driving the New Mercedes EQXX in Monaco.” But he wasn’t actually allowed to drive it. How come?
The Mercedes EQXX is the 1,000-kilometer (621-mile) range car. It is the world’s most efficient car, being able to cover the distance from Paris to Berlin or from New York to Cincinnati on a single charge. A 100-kWh battery with a 50% less volume and 30% lighter than the battery pack of the EQS sedan bring along such impressive figures. A 117-cell solar panel on the roof adds up to 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) of range.
For such efficiency, Mercedes mounted a single electric motor on the EQXX, providing it with 201 PS (198 HP). It doesn’t really sound like a beast on the road, but that is not what it is about. So it came as a surprise for Nico Rosberg when he found out that he cannot drive the car.
He started on the wrong foot anyway. He had no idea it was a Mercedes event and showed up in his Audi e-tron. Gorden Wagener, Chief Design Officer, must have disliked it.
“Everything is just epic,” he concluded, after a walkaround that showed the sleek silhouette of the concept car. It sports a record-breaking Cd value of only 0.17.
“Let’s take it for a spin,” former F1 champion says opening the driver’s door. “Sorry, Nico, maybe we didn’t tell you, but you are not allowed to drive by yourself. You’re not qualified,” an engineer explains. It’s not that the fastest man in the world back in 2016, when he defeated Lewis Hamilton in Formula 1, is not good enough. But he doesn’t have an R&D license, which would allow him to drive a car still in development. So he moves to the front passenger’s seat and films the whole way.
Nico couldn’t drive the EQXX, but he will find consolation in driving his Mercedes-AMG ONE. He is one of the 275 lucky owners of the hypercar.
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