DESERT RACE: Mercedes tested new thermal management systems and got the maximum out of the solar panels on the roof when they took their new range record.

Energy efficiency, long range and light electric vehicles: Mercedes has now made further progress on its test bench, the EQXX.

Two years ago, we attended a workshop to gain insight into how Mercedes thinks the electric cars of the future must be in order to have the smallest carbon footprint, both during production and while on the road.

This was in connection with the fact that they travelled 100 miles without charging when they drove from Stuttgart to Cassis in France. Then the consumption was 0.87 kWh per mile and the distance was 1,008 kilometers.

Later they drove from Stuttgart to Silverstone. The consumption was 0.83 kWh per mile and the distance was 1,202 kilometres.

In the experimental car EQXX, all ideas are gathered in one car, and then you get results. Read all about the car in the links below.

New, record low consumption

Now, Mercedes has repeated the exercise. This time from Riyadh in Saudi Arabia to Dubai.

The distance they covered was 1,010 kilometres, shorter than Silverstone, but they had 31 miles of range left when they arrived in Dubai.

The average consumption ended at a record low 0.74 kWh per mile. The trip was completed in 14 hours and 42 minutes. 12 hours and 45 minutes of them were driving. The route contains both motorway, country road and city driving in a lot of traffic.

The goal was to test new solutions for thermal management of batteries and drivetrains under extreme conditions. The temperature was 34 degrees and Mercedes reports that they succeeded in cooling both the passenger compartment and the battery.

TEST BENCH: Mercedes has gathered all its know-how in this car.

The air conditioner was in operation without negative consequences for range, thanks to what Mercedes calls a multi-source heat pump.

Mercedes also mentions that a further developed version of this heat pump is integrated into the Concept CLA Class.

The concept car, which is very close to production, is built on the new Mercedes Modular Architecture (MMA).