Mercedes-Benz arrives gracefully late to the electric vehicle party. Its German counterparts have been here for a while, and Mercedes was supposed to arrive with the EQC in 2019, but the brand thought the model was poorly dressed and eventually canceled it in the U.S. Now, Mercedes’s first electric car arrives in style with the 2022 EQS sedan.
The EQS is set to be a rolling technological tour de force, with an interior designed to outshine the Tesla Model S in the mainstream state while possibly setting a new benchmark for judging vehicle interiors. It could become the template for luxury cars for a generation.
Mercedes-Benz revealed more information about the EQS on Thursday, and we saw it in person in Hollywood to see if it lives up to the S-Class of electric vehicles.
The EQS will be powered by a liquid-cooled modular 108-kWh lithium-ion battery pack operating on a 400-volt architecture. This battery pack is already in production in Germany. Mercedes-Benz said the EQS will have a range of up to 770 kilometers (just under 478 miles). That should translate to an EPA range rating of over 400 miles.
Mercedes will offer its large luxury electric vehicle in the EQS 450+ rear-wheel-drive model or a dual-motor (front and rear) all-wheel-drive version called EQS 580 4Matic. Mercedes said the power for the 450+ model is 328 hp and 406 lb-ft of torque, while the 580 4Matic model will generate 516 hp and 611 lb-ft of torque. The top speed for the launch models will be limited to 130 mph. The EQS will also come with three levels of regenerative braking chosen via shift paddles on the steering wheel.
Standard rear-wheel steering that can turn the rear wheels up to 4.5 degrees will come standard, and a version that can turn the rear wheels up to 10 degrees will be an option that can be requested or activated through an over-the-air update. The system reduces the turning radius to 35.7 feet for a car over 16 feet long.
EQS hatchbacks will be capable of DC fast charging speeds of up to 200 kW that will allow it to gain roughly 150 miles of charge in 15 minutes. The optional integrated charger will have up to a 9.6 kW charging capacity, although Mercedes-Benz has not indicated the standard charger speed.
More Luxurious Model
The EQS that Mercedes made available was an Edition One, a limited-edition model that will arrive alongside the standard models this fall. A total of 300 units will be available in the U.S., 250 of which will use the dusk blue paint color that is exclusive to the Edition One for the first model year. It will come in both EQS 450+ and EQS 580 4Matic models. The other 50 will come in a two-tone paint scheme and will only be offered as EQS 580 4Matic models.
Edition One models also feature rose gold accents inside, gray seats, a blue upper dashboard, and some small Edition One badges in front of the side mirrors.
The EQS has an aerodynamic resistance coefficient of 0.20, which is the lowest of any production vehicles ever made. Mercedes designers noted that the design process began with that figure in mind, and achieving it required this final shape, another testament to how difficult it is to make a car that is both super aerodynamic and beautiful.
Mercedes compensates for the shape by paying a lot of attention to the styling details of the EQS. The taillights feature helical LED elements, the solid front grille has small Mercedes star logos extending in a pattern from the center, a novelty for the brand, and the headlights have three striped elements to tie the EQS to the S-Class once again. The optional 21-inch wheels don’t escape either, each with 40 individual spokes (20 long, 20 short).
The EQS is quite a large sedan, but it hides its size well until you get within about 20 feet and realize it keeps growing more and more. At 205.4 inches long, it’s only two inches shorter than the S-Class. This gives the EQS a much shorter hood than the S-Class and lengthens the cabin, allowing for a very steeply raked windshield that is more aerodynamic. From the driver’s seat, it feels like the front glass is endless.
Mercedes doesn’t provide a frunk under the shortened hood as you’ll find in most other electric vehicles. The EQS is a bit boastful; it will measure the air quality outside and inside and gladly tell you how many allergens and impurities it’s filtering. A small slot in front of the driver’s door also has an interesting application: refilling the windshield washer fluid, so owners never have to open the hood.
EQS owners will be able to choose how their luxury electric sedan sounds. Two standard soundscapes called Silver Waves and Vivid Flux will be standard on the EQS; the former is said to be sensual and clean, while the latter is aimed at electric vehicle enthusiasts with a crystal-clear, synthetic sound. A third sound, called Roaring Pulse, will be a wireless update that can be downloaded and is said to resemble powerful machinery.
Benchmark Cabin
As awkward as the exterior may seem, once owners step into the interior, they will forget it entirely. Each of the four doors lights up, and the driver’s door can be programmed to open by itself when approaching the vehicle. The interior is an absolute masterpiece, surpassing even the S-Class in some aspects.
Most of the dashboard is a screen. It’s actually three distinct screens: a 12.3-inch instrument panel screen, a central 17.7-inch screen, and another 12.3-inch screen in front of the passenger. The instrument panel screen is familiar, and the passenger screen is novel, but that large central screen is the star of the show.
The bottom of the screen tapers inward and is reserved for climate controls and dedicated start, back, and skip forward/back buttons, but still leaves a very large main viewing area. Many of the screens look like enlarged versions of what you’ll find in other Mercedes models with the MBUX multimedia system, but the EQS has a big trick up its sleeve: a new “zero layer” that serves as a steroids-infused home screen.
The zero layer is activated by pressing the home button twice and functions as a one-stop-shop for all your multimedia needs. It places a 3D map in the background and adds small “tiles” for the car’s active functions. For example, if you turn on the massage seats, a kind of miniaturized widget will be placed on the screen that you can press to bring up a smaller version of the massage menu. Once you’re done, it will shrink back down to keep the map more visible.
There are tiles for each of the car’s common functions, and active functions are visible in the top layer of the screen, hence the name “zero layer” because you don’t have to search through any menu to find what you want. It’s an impressive system that also learns when the driver uses certain functions. For example, it can geo-tag a location as a home garage, so when approaching it, the surround-view camera will automatically activate. The goal of the EQS seems to be to make life smoother for the driver, and features like this fulfill that mission.
The passenger screen functions in the same way as rear-seat entertainment screens, allowing passengers to set navigation destinations or choose their own music and even videos. Drivers dreaming of watching a show on the passenger screen while on the road won’t be able to do so. Mercedes says the car can detect if the driver is looking at that screen, and if they do so too much or for too long, the EQS will turn off any program being watched on the passenger screen.
The Hyperscreen infotainment system runs on eight CPU cores, 24 GB of RAM, and 12 actuators beneath the touchscreen to provide tangible vibrations when a finger touches the screen. Up to 350 sensors inside the EQS monitor its functions, the vehicle’s environment, and passengers, including body movements and spoken language. Artificial intelligence is also integrated. Mercedes-Benz said the EQS is capable of performing over-the-air software updates throughout the vehicle’s life.
The navigation system is smart enough to plan the fastest and most convenient route, including charging stops, while taking into account power demand based on topography, route, ambient temperature, speed, and vehicle system demands. The system will use onboard data along with cloud computing to perform calculations and respond to situations including, among others, traffic, changes in power demand, and the availability, capacity, and payment functions of charging stations.
The available Burmester surround sound system in the EQS will feature 15 speakers and 710 watts of power. The 2021 S-Class can be ordered with a Burmester audio system with twice the number of speakers (30) and over twice the power output (1,750 watts), but it runs on gasoline.
The quilted leather sport seats, glossy black piano plastic, real wood, metal speaker grilles, and ample LED lighting add up to what one expects from a flagship luxury vehicle in 2021.
Certain parts, including the rear-seat entertainment screens, door handles, and door-mounted seat controls, seem to be shared with the new 2021 S-Class. That also means carrying over the 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster and 12.8-inch central touchscreen in EQS sedans without Hyperscreen, but that’s not a bad thing.
All that’s left to learn about the EQS is its price and what it’s like to drive. Everything we’ve heard and now experienced with the large electric sedan has been impressive, and if as much attention has been paid to the driving experience as to the interior, then the EQS will immediately jump to the front of the line as the first luxury electric sedan model on the market when it launches this fall.
