Mercedes will unveil a Tesla Model X competitor this year

It’s amazing how Tesla has become the first brand that people think about when talking about electric cars, and it’s done so without spending a cent on advertising. The association is so strong that electric cars released by other automakers are simply referred to as “Tesla competitors,” including the soon-to-be unveiled electric SUV from Mercedes. Expected to be unveiled at the Paris Motor Show later this year, this electric SUV concept will compete directly with the Tesla Model X.

An electric-powered Mercedes SUV concept will be unveiled at the upcoming Paris motor show, which high-ranking insiders describe as its first step into a broad electric vehicle strategy. The new concept, currently undergoing construction at Mercedes’ prototype workshop on the outskirts of Stuttgart in Germany, is said to provide “a clear insight” into the external appearance, interior appointments, technical layout and overall dimensions of the German car maker’s first truly dedicated electric vehicle – a uniquely styled SUV conceived to take on the Tesla Model X as well as new electric SUVs planned by Audi and Jaguar. The new zero-emissions SUV, tentatively planned for introduction in 2019, is the first in a series of a new electric vehicles currently under development by Mercedes, including an advanced upmarket saloon rival to the Tesla Model S and the recently unveiled Chinese LeEco LeSee, which has been conceived around the very latest in autonomous driving technology. Up until now, Mercedes-Benz has based its limited number of production electric vehicles around existing models, namely the Smart Fortwo and Mercedes B-Class.