Mercedes-Benz gives the EQC a new water-cooled on-board charger. According to Das Haus As a result, the EV can now be charged a lot faster at charging stations and at the home charger. The improved on-board charger is standard on every new EQC.
Thanks to the water cooling, the charging speed on alternating current (AC) has increased from 7.4 kW to 11 kW. This means that the EQC will now charge a lot faster at charging stations and at the home charger, provided they have the capacity to supply power with 11 kW. Mercedes-Benz promises that the 80 kWh battery of the EQC will now charge from 10 percent to a full charge in 7 hours and 30 minutes, while the process previously took 11 hours, according to the brand. According to our test result, the charging time of the EQC took 11 hours and 53 minutes at the charging station.
With regard to fast charging, the 150 kW charging speed of the EQC remains the same, because the on-board charger is not used for this. Mercedes-Benz is not introducing anything new with the 11 kW on-board charger. The Audi e-tron, for example, could already be charged with 11 kW at a charging station. The EQC is therefore catching up rather than a true innovation. Incidentally, Mercedes-Benz is by no means idle in the EV field: the unveiling of the EQA and EQS, for example, will not be long in coming. The expectation is that the EQS should be able to travel 700 km on one battery charge, which would mean that Mercedes would raise the bar in the EV field.