Mercedes is going to drop the “EQ” branding from the names of their electric cars as early as 2024, citing confusion from customers, as reported by Handelsblatt.
In recent years, Mercedes has branded its electric offerings and concepts with an “EQ” badge, meant to stand for “electric intelligence” in a riff on the concept of “IQ.”
So far, each of Mercedes’ EVs have included the letters “EQ” in their name.
This seems simple enough, but eventually you end up with alphabet soup. In various regions, Mercedes sells or will soon sell an EQA, EQB, EQC, EQE, EQE SUV, EQS, EQS SUV, EQV, and potentially an EQG and EQT.
Most Mercedes models have stuck with a model designation based on size or body type, but EQ models designate themselves based on electric drive. This could lead customers to think that EQ models have something similar in terms of size or body type, when in fact the EQT and EQA have nothing in common except powertrain.
And Mercedes’ gas vehicles don’t use lettering based on powertrain, so why should the electric models do so? It’s not consistent with the rest of Mercedes’ branding.
The timeline for retiring the EQ brand meshes with this electric-only timeline. Mercedes says that the first non-EQ electric model they introduce will be their next generation of compact cars, which should be on the market in late 2024.
Electrek’s Take
To me, this is a good and overdue move.
As far as I’m concerned, almost every electric model name out there currently is bad or confusing in some way or another. Either they take the same name as a gas model (Niro, Kona), confuse model names with sub-brand names (Ioniq, e-tron), silo electric vehicles into a sub-brand which could be killed off (BMW i), or have long and ridiculous names which are impossible for the consumer to understand at a glance (2023 BMW X5 xDrive45e Sports Activity Vehicle®).
All of these, I think, are an indication of an automaker not taking electric models seriously in some way or another. Gas models don’t get this treatment (ok, so in BMW’s case they do) – they usually get a regular model name, distinct from other models, treated and advertised as its own program by the automaker. Malibu. Corolla. Integra. Expedition. Tucson.
Why can’t we get more electric models like that? One of few models from an incumbent manufacturer that fits this naming convention is the Porsche Taycan. It’s a real car with a real model name treated as something distinct by the company that makes it. Do more of that.
Mercedes doesn’t really use this sort of designation for any of their vehicles, to be fair. They mostly stick with letters and numbers for their gas models as well. But having an “EQ” sub-brand still inspired some skepticism from me after seeing what BMW did with their “i” sub-brand.
BMW was ahead of the curve with EVs, with the Mini E, ActiveE and BMW i3 all released quite early in the game. But then they just… stopped. Nothing was done with the “i” brand for several years, and internally the whole department was de-emphasized. This even ended up leading to former CEO Harald Kruger’s resignation – rumors were, he came in with electrification as a priority, but executives under him came together and refused to cooperate, and he was unable to overpower them.
So this is the worry about companies siloing their EV development into its own department. If they do this, it’s entirely possible for some misguided executive(s) to push to defund that department, as we saw in BMW, and I worry that that’s possible with other companies as well. Ford was hailed for its “Team Edison” strategy, which works well as long as Jim Farley is here to push electrification, but what if a less-electrifying executive comes to the head? Could Edison be killed off?
So really, to me, the best solution is to just stop trying to get clever with EVs and treat them like you would treat any other model program. Take them seriously. Stop messing around. And it looks like Mercedes is doing this, which is good.
Unfortunately this also means that Mercedes will end up selling some EVs that are EQ-branded while selling some EVs that are not EQ-branded during the transition to this new system, which may lead to even more confusion in the meantime – much like Audi’s transition between using e-tron as a model name for their first electric SUV and their current status using e-tron as a designation for all of their electric models. But in the long term, treating EVs like normal models, like they should have done in the first place (*ahem*), will make things much easier on everyone.
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Like a 90s “gifted” kid that was supposed to be a lot of things, the electric Jeep Wagoneer S never really found its place — but when dealers started discounting the Jeep brands forward-looking flagship by nearly $25,000 back in June, I wrote that it might be time to give the go-fast Wagoneer S a second look.
Whether we’re talking about Mercedes-Benz, Cerberus, Fiat, or even Enzo Ferrari, outsiders have labeled Jeep as a potentially premium brand that could, “if managed properly,” command luxury-level prices all over the globe. That hasn’t happened, and Stellantis is just the latest in a long line of companies to sink massive capital into the brand only to realize that people will not, in fact, spend Mercedes money on a Jeep.
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That said, the Jeep Wagoneer S is not a bad car (and neither is its totally different, hideously massive, ICE-powered Wagoneer sibling, frankly). Built on the same Stellantis STLA Large vehicle platform that underpins the sporty Charger Daytona EVs, the confusingly-named Wagoneer S packs dual electric motors putting out almost 600 hp. That’s good enough to scoot the ‘ute 0 to 60 mph in a stomach-turning 3.5 seconds and enough, on paper, to convince Stellantis executives that they had developed a real, market-ready alternative to the Tesla Model Y.
With the wrong name and a sky-high starting price of $66,995 (not including the $1,795 destination fee), however, that demand didn’t materialize, leaving the Wagoneer S languishing on dealer lots across the country.
That could be about to change, however, thanks to big discounts on Wagoneer S being reported at CDJR dealers in several states:
Jeff Belzer’s in Minnesota has a 2025 Wagoneer S Limited with a $67,790 MSRP for $39,758 ($28,032 off)
Troncalli CDJR in Georgia has a 2025 Wagoneer S Limited with a $67,590 MSRP for $42,697 ($24,893 off)
Whitewater CDJR in Minnesota has a 2025 Wagoneer S Limited with a $67,790 MSRP for $43,846 ($23,944 off)
Antioch CDJR in Illinois has a 2025 Wagoneer S Limited with a $67,790 MSRP for $44,540 ($23,250 off)
“Stellantis bet big on electric versions of iconic American brands like Jeep and Dodge, but consumers aren’t buying the premise,” writes CDG’s Marcus Amick. “(Stellantis’ dealer body) is now stuck with expensive EVs that need huge discounts to move, eating into already thin margins while competitors focus on [more] profitable gas-powered vehicles.”
All of which is to say: if you’ve found yourself drawn to the Jeep Wagoneer S, but couldn’t quite stomach the $70,000+ window stickers, you might want to check in with your local Jeep dealer and see how you feel about it at a JCPenneys-like 30% off!
Jeep Wagoneer S gallery
Original content from Electrek; images via Stellantis.
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Multinational equipment brand SANY just launched a clever new 50-ton reach stacker that pairs gravity and an F1-style KERS system to generate electricity, improve operating efficiency, and reduce costs. The best part: they’re putting that smart tech to work by helping clean up (and shore up) the grid.
Short for Kinetic Energy Recovery System, KERS was a staple of Formula 1 in the late aught and 2010s. Essentially an advanced form of regenerative braking, KERS captured the kinetic energy of a car at speed that would normally be lost as heat when the brake pads pressed against the brake discs. Instead of heat, KERS converted that energy into electricity (storing it in a battery or flywheel), to be deployed later.
Sebastian Vettel explains KERS
4x WDC Sebastian Vettel explains KERS.
In practice, KERS gave drivers an extra boost of horsepower at the push of a button, enabling them to attack or defend their position on track and adding a fresh strategic element to the sport. In SANY’s case, that stored power is fed back into the reach stacker’s electric hydraulic system, reducing pressure loss across the high-pressure setup by 50%, and lowering the machine’s overall energy consumption by more than 60%.
Energy recovery is a key feature. The potential energy of the boom, lifting gear and energy storage cabinets during the boom’s descent can be recovered efficiently with an overall recovery efficiency of over 65%. That means every 1 kWh of consumption in lifting can be recovered by 0.4 kWh during descent.
The 50t reach stacker is available with a 512 kWh swappable battery pack that’s compatible with other SANY heavy equipment assets, and supports both DC fast charging when swapping isn’t practical or (for whatever reason) desirable.
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On a single charge and backed by the onboard KERS, that’s good enough for the machine can lift and move containers for more than 7 continuous hours, which SANY claims significantly reducing downtime for charging compared to other, similar equipment assets.
The new SANY reach stacker can stack six 50-ton containers, greatly enhancing a site’s container and battery storage density within a limited space. The first units will reach unnamed customers building out a utility-scale energy storage project by the end of this month.
Regardless of which one you choose, it seems like the available options for reach stacker operators are just getting better and better!
SOURCE | IMAGES: SANY.
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EVs are great, and can unlock more transportation convenience with the ease of charging at home. But for apartment-dwellers, this can be a complicated conversation. So a nonprofit called Forth is here to help, through its Charge at Home program.
One of the main benefits of an electric vehicle is in the convenience of owning and charging the car in the place it spends most of its time. Instead of having to go out of your way to fuel it, you just park it at home, in the same place it spends at least 8 hours a day, and you leave the house every day with a full charge.
But this benefit only applies to those with a consistent parking space which they can easily install charging at. When talking about owners who live in apartment buildings, it can sometimes get more complicated.
While certain states have passed “right to charge” laws to give apartment-dwellers a solution for home charging, apartment charging is nevertheless a bit of a patchwork solution so far.
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And as a result of this, EV ownership among apartment renters lags behind that of single-family homeowners. It’s clear that apartments are holding back people from buying EVs, and that’s bad – lots of people live in apartments, and the gas those cars use pollutes the air just as much as any other.
Certain areas where EVs have hit a point of critical mass (namely, the large California cities) have pretty good EV ownership among renters, but it could still be better. And residents are clamoring more and more for easy EV charging in apartment communities.
So, Forth, a nonprofit advocating for equitable access to clean transportation, set up a program called Charge at Home, which is meant to connect renters, apartment building owners or other decisionmakers with resources to help install chargers at multifamily properties.
The site lets you select your situation – a resident or a decisionmaker for a new or existing multifamily development – and then gives you access to tools for your specific situation, whether you be a resident and developer.
There are a lot of considerations for each of these projects, so it can be helpful to have someone with experience to help you go over it all. Personally, when talking to friends about getting an EV, charging considerations are usually the thing that takes up the bulk of the conversation.
So if the toolkits are still too daunting for you, Charge at Home is offering free charging consultations for multifamily developers, owners, property managers and HOAs.
The charging consultations have been made possible by funding from the Department of Energy, though that funding only runs through the end of September – so get your requests in soon. Forth may still offer consultations afterwards, but is still uncertain about funding so doesn’t want to promise anything – but the website will remain up for people to submit questions and find information, whether or not free consultations stick around.
But at the very least, as Forth points out, whether a multifamily development is interested in having EV charging at this moment or not, any developer should think about having the infrastructure, conduit and capacity ready to go for future install of EV chargers, and should consider the needs of current residents who are likely already considering EVs today.
It’s going to be necessary to install this capacity at some point, and doing so earlier can help save money down the line, make your development more attractive to renters today, and allow more renters to make the switch to cleaner transportation which helps air quality and to reduce climate change, both of which harm everyone on the planet.
Electrek’s Take
I’ve long said that the only real problem with EVs is the problem of access to consistent charging for people who don’t have their own garage. Whether this be apartment-dwellers, street-parkers or the like, the electric car charging experience is often less-than-ideal outside of single family homes, at least in North America.
There are workarounds available, like charging at work, or using Superchargers in “third places” where you often spend time, but these still aren’t optimal. The best thing is just to charge your car wherever it spends most of its time, which is your home. When you do that, EVs outshine everything in convenience.
We’ve highlighted some projects before which showed how reasonable it can be to install charging for developments. Every project is going to have its complexities, but when you see projects like this condo complex that managed to install chargers for just $405 per parking spot, all of a sudden it becomes a no-brainer not to have EV charging.
But the fact is, there just aren’t enough apartment complexes out there which have EV charging. So if Forth’s program can help residents or landlords with that, it can go a long way towards solving the only real problem with EVs.
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