• Just a single fully electric choice
• 80kWh battery for longer range
• Time to swap electricity suppliers?

Electric cars are usually significantly cheaper to run than their petrol- or diesel-engined counterparts. Compare the EQC’s 4.0 - 8.2mpp range with those of the similarly sized Mercedes-Benz GLC for a stark contrast.

You could potentially reduce the cost of recharging the EQC by switching to a cheaper energy supplier, finding out if they offer low-cost tariffs overnight or hunting out free to use public chargers.

While the EQC itself doesn’t produce any CO2 emissions as it’s been driven along, carbon dioxide is inevitably produced during its manufacture and shipping to the UK. Plus, although electricity production in Britain is becoming cleaner, it’s not carbon-neutral yet.

Charging the EQC can take quite a while in domestic settings due to the size of its 80kWh battery – that’s one of the larger ones available in any electric car currently.

How long it takes to recharge is largely governed by the speed of the flow of electricity to the car. A typical domestic three-pin plug arrangement will likely need almost 41 hours (yes, you read that correctly) to completely replenish the battery, but a typical dedicated wallbox would reduce that to around 11 hours, enough for most people do complete an overnight charge.

Quicker still are the rapid chargers found in public locations. Mercedes quotes a 110kW charger as being able to take the EQC’s batteries up to 80% capacity in just 40 minutes, a plausible figure in our experience with the car.

Brakes on electric cars usually last longer than on combustion-engined models thanks to the way energy is recuperated from them, and servicing costs are usually lower for EVs too. Tyres will still prove expensive, though, especially if you up your alloy wheel ante to the 21-inch maximum diameter.

Is the EQC reliable?

• Mercedes has a good reputation in this regard
• No official recalls as yet…
• But it hasn’t been on sale for long

It’s far too early to know for sure how reliable the EQC will prove to be, but certainly there have yet to be any official recalls sanctioned by the DVSA vehicle inspectorate.

As they have fewer moving parts, electric cars tend to be more reliable than petrol- and diesel-engined models as there are fewer components to wear down or break. However, the technology itself is still in its infancy in the grand scheme of things.

Much of the EQC’s on-board technology and safety equipment is shared across the Mercedes line-up and usually works with little in the way of glitches or problems.

As ever, time will tell.