This winter I pointed my newly acquired Mercedes EQB 250+ south and drove from Denmark to Austria. It was a proper long‑distance winter road trip, the kind that normally turns into a test of endurance, playlists and coffee consumption. I was genuinely curious to see if an electric car could take us there in a reasonable way and within a reasonable time.

This is the story of traveling through Europe 200 km at a time, then stopping for a 40 minute charge before continuing at 120 km/h while the rest of Germany overtakes you at rocket speed.

The EQB 250+ has a hopeful WLTP number on paper, but winter driving on the Autobahn is not a controlled lab test. It is cold air, wet roads, heavy luggage, wind resistance and the simple fact that the EQB is a tall, box‑shaped family car, not an aerodynamic spaceship designed to cheat physics. When I planned the trip, I imagined I might squeeze out around 400 km from the 560 km the car manages in city driving. That would have meant getting to Austria in four charges. Reality adjusted this to eight. That became the heartbeat of the trip:

Drive 200 km → Charge 40 minutes → Repeat

At first the idea sounded like punishment. But once I settled into it, it became a surprisingly natural cadence, a rhythm I did not know I needed. My son and I switched seats at every stop, which kept us from getting overly tired. Mentally it was much lighter than the usual diesel approach of “keep going until your back hurts”.

After the first few stops, the 40 minute breaks turned into something almost ritualistic.

The routine looked like this:

• Step out of the car and feel your legs
• Walk around the charging spot and take in the atmosphere, which was not always great
• Grab a coffee that tastes slightly burnt but somehow works
• Check messages, emails and news
• Watch the battery climb toward 80 percent
• Get back on the road

Some chargers were modern, clean and placed right next to a good coffee bar. Others looked like someone had installed them behind a supermarket as an afterthought, somewhere between the dumpster and the employee smoking area. But every charger worked, and that is what matters. The built‑in navigation also handled all charging planning automatically, which made the whole thing feel smoother than expected.

Autobahn at 120 km/h: The Humbling Lane

If you drive a diesel car, you enter the German Autobahn ready to experience the legendary no‑speed‑limit sections. You merge into traffic feeling like a missile.
In an EV, especially an EQB, you quickly get to know the right lane.

At 120 km/h, the EQB feels great. Consumption is predictable, the range is stable and the car feels calm.

At 130 to 140 km/h, the battery begins to drop as if you are towing a trailer full of bricks.

At 150 km/h and above, the car tells you very clearly that this lifestyle is not sustainable.

So I stayed at 120 km/h. Every car in Germany overtook me. Audis, Porsches, BMWs, vans, everything. But the drive itself was peaceful and surprisingly enjoyable.

The Big Question: What If I Slow Down to 110 km/h?

At some point I wanted to know what would happen if I simply drove slower. The EQB is shaped like a box, and boxes suffer a lot from aerodynamic drag. Dropping from 120 to 110 km/h saves roughly 30 percent energy in a car like this.

So I ran the numbers.

Range
120 km/h gives about 200 km
110 km/h gives about 260 km

Charging stops on a 1,600 km winter trip
120 km/h requires 8 stops
110 km/h requires 6 stops

Charging time
8 stops at 40 minutes is 5 hours and 20 minutes
6 stops at 40 minutes is 4 hours
This means I save 80 minutes by slowing down.

Driving time
At 120 km/h it takes about 13.3 hours
At 110 km/h it takes about 14.5 hours
This adds 1.2 hours of driving.

Grand total
It is basically a draw.
Slowing down does not save time, but it does save stress and money.

Would I Do It Again?

Yes, absolutely. A car with a winter range of 350 to 400 km would make the whole journey smoother, not because it is necessary but because it is comfortable. Even so, the EQB 250+ handled the trip without issues. It was reliable, predictable and calm.

Yes, it was slower. But slower did not mean worse. It simply meant a different kind of journey, and in many ways a better one.