ONE of the factors that stops many buyers from considering an electric vehicle (EV) is all too often the driving range available on a single charge. Many potential buyers have said that if this one feature of EV design could be improved they may very well be tempted to purchase an EV when next changing their car. Perhaps that day is much closer than any of us could have expected. Mercedes Benz set out recently to test their latest EV technology featured on the VISION EQXX EV, and boy did it deliver on range and efficiency. Travelling from Sindelfingen near Stuttgart in southern Germany, they crossed the Swiss Alps and travelled through northern Italy to Cassis in the Côte d'Azur in southern France, it effortlessly covered more than 620 miles through both everyday traffic and open roads on a single battery charge. The journey started in cold and rainy conditions in Sindelfingen with the car driving at regular road speeds, including prolonged fast lane cruising up to 87mph on the German autobahns. On arrival in Cassis, the batteries still had around 15 per cent power, which could have delivered another 86 miles. That gives it a potential real-world range of more than 700 miles.