FRANKFURT -- Mercedes-Benz hopes to rekindle interest in its slow-selling full-electric vehicles with the EQA, which will compete with battery-powered compact cars such as the Tesla Model 3 and VW ID3.
The EV will be the brand's entry-level EV and is targeted toward young, urban customers, Mercedes said.
The EQA can accelerate from 0 to 100 kph (62 mph) in 8.9 seconds and has a top speed of 160 kph (99 mph).
The car is being launched as the EQA 250 with a 486-km (302-mile) range under the NEDC test standard. Output is rated at 140 kilowatts or 188 hp.
Further variants including all-wheel-drive models with higher outputs and longer ranges will follow, including a version with a range of more than 500 km under the WLTP standard, Mercedes said.
The EQA 250 will go on sale in Europe in the spring, with prices starting at 47,541 euros ($56,300) in Germany, excluding government EV incentives.
Mercedes did not disclose when the car will go on sale in other markets such as the U.S. "We are concentrating our focus initially on Europe," a spokesman said.
The EQA is based on the GLA combustion-engine crossover.
"The EQA proves that, by using a tried and tested architecture, it is possible to achieve an excellent compromise between performance, costs and time to market," Mercedes-Benz Cars operations chief Markus Schaefer said in a statement on Wednesday.
The EQA joins Mercedes's other full electric vehicles -- the EQC midsize crossover and the EQV minivan, which had global sales of 20,000 units and 1,700 units respectively last year.
Mercedes modified the underpinnings of its GLA crossover to reduce upfront investments and save time compared to building an electric hatchback from scratch. It's a trade-off that often comes at the expense of battery range and cost efficiency in production.
