Mercedes-Benz is aiming to achieve CO₂-neutral production in its own European plants from 2022. During the operating phase, the driver can even already influence what the eco balance of the vehicle looks like – depending on the energy source used for recharging. The eco balance, and especially the CO₂ balance, varies accordingly when examining the entire lifecycle of the EQC with a mileage of 200,000 kilometres. At present, 16.4 tonnes of CO₂ are emitted during its production. If its batteries are charged from the EU power mix, this adds a further 16 tonnes. All in all, the emitted quantity of CO₂ is then 32.4 tonnes. However, if the power for recharging is obtained from renewable sources, only an additional 0.7 tonnes of CO₂ is emitted over the lifecycle (car production, energy consumption in operation, end of life). The overall CO₂ emissions are then 17.1 tonnes of CO₂: by using clean energy to charge the batteries, the CO₂ footprint of the EQC can be practically halved.
