The Vision EQXX consumed only 8.7 kilowatt hours per hundred kilometers. Also: Amazon imposes fuel and inflation surcharges and celebrities invest in fintech Moonpay.
The technology tested in the EQXX is scheduled to go into series production in 2024.
Mercedes Benz
Good Morning! While you slept, work continued elsewhere in the digital scene.
The top topics:
Mercedes-Benz has announced that its Vision EQXX electric concept vehicle has successfully completed a long-distance test of over 1000 kilometers on a single battery charge. It was one of the longest distances ever traveled by an electric vehicle on a single charge. The journey led through several European cities, from Germany to Switzerland and Italy to the destination, the southern French port of Cassis near Marseille. For the 1008 kilometers driven, the vehicle consumed just 8.7 kilowatt hours per hundred kilometers and thus set a new record.
That's more than double the typical range that most electric vehicles can cover on the road today. According to Mercedes, the charge level of the Vision EQXX was around 15 percent upon arrival, giving the vehicle a remaining range of around 140 kilometers. According to the “Handelsblatt”, the CLA Coupé, the first Mercedes model to use the technology tried and tested in the EQXX, will roll off the assembly line in 2024. [More at Reuters, Handelsblatt and The Verge]
On Gründerszene you can read today: Ex-Tesla manager Philipp Schröder managed to set up a climate start-up worth almost billions in just a few months. He recruits his top executives from well-known industry giants. We show you the organization chart of 1Komma5. [More at Gründerszene+]
And here are the other headlines of the night:
Amazon has announced it will levy a fuel and inflation surcharge of about 5 percent on online retailers who use its shipping services. The surcharge, which is set to take effect on April 28, applies to US sellers who use Amazon's Fulfillment service offering to stow, pack and ship products. "The surcharge applies to all types of products such as clothing, dangerous goods and small and light objects," the statement said. With inflation rising, the e-commerce giant is trying to offset some of its own costs by passing fees on to sellers. [More at Bloomberg and CNBC]
Rent the Runway expects sales growth of up to 50 percent this year. Online clothing rentals are benefiting from businesses returning to the office, where professionals are looking to dress more stylishly than before the pandemic. The company also sees benefits from inflation, as customers prefer to rent goods at a lower price than spend more on new items. This year, Rent the Runway says it could bring in as much as $305 million if Covid restrictions on customer spending ease. [More at The Information]
Pinterest has announced that Woocommerce merchants can connect their websites to their Pinterest profiles. The integration will make all goods in Woocommerce merchants' more than three million online stores available for users to shop on Pinterest app and website. In May 2020, Pinterest announced a similar partnership with Shopify. [More at The Information]
Whatsapp has received approval in India to expand its payment service to 100 million users. Whatsapp Pay was previously limited to 40 million users. The slow adoption of Whatsapp Pay has allowed the company's competitors to grab a bigger market share in India. According to official figures, Google Pay and Walmart-backed Phonepe own over 70 percent of UPI's market share. [More at Reuters and Techcrunch]
Our reading tip on the start-up scene: The "Die Höhle der Löwen" startup Presize presented a digital size advisor for online shops. Now the Facebook parent company Meta takes over the company. [More at start-up scene]
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A nice Thursday!
Your Gründerszene editors
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