Between now and 2030, Mercedes-Benz promises an onslaught of fully electric vehicles, with a large percentage of their global sales shifting to electric.
Arguably the first of these transitions is the new 2022 Mercedes-Benz eqs, which is the s-class of electric vehicles.
This is by no means mercedes-first benz’s ev, but up until now, all of their eevs have been converted ice platforms, and this is built on mercedes’ In Europe, there are shorter variants of the bmw 7 series and the Mercedes-Benz s class, but in the United States, we only get long and extra long s-classes.
If you want the longest s-class, it will be far longer than the eqs number.
Cities has generated some confusion since it’s been referred to as a sedan, a liftback, or a sportback at times.
You’ll note it’s obviously a liftback vs the s-class, which greatly enhances cargo capacity and freight practicality.
The cargo area on the spec sheet is a little less than twice the size of the one in the s-class, but I believe this is at least twice as practical as we see in a decent number of evs.
The greenhouse really curves in and pinches as we go to the back to give us not only a strong hip shape right back here but also to improve aerodynamics as things go to the back.
Aerodynamics are incredibly important for any electric vehicle because in terms of onboard energy storage northern america The standard eqs is powered by a single rear-mounted electric motor that generates 329 horsepower and 406 pound-feet of torque.
If you want more power and all-wheel drive, the 580 is the way to go, with a front-mounted electric motor producing 516 horsepower and 611 pound-feet of torque.
Now, if you’re wondering why the hood doesn’t open even on the base model without the second electric motor up front, it’s because the way Mercedes decided to design this platform with the location of the air conditioning, steering rack, and everything else that’s going on in the front of the vehicle, logically they could have given us a little bit more storage space there, but it may have impacted the aerodynamic profile of this vehicle and thus its range.
Most home circumstances only have single-phase electricity, which is why we never created a three-phase charging standard in the United States, resulting in a 9.6 kilowatt on-board charger.
Of course, this supports dc fast charging and uses the newer ccs standard.
If you have access to the right ccs charge station, this will charge at a peak rate of 207 kilowatts and will sustain about 200 kilowatts for a long time.
Thanks to my friends over at inside evs, they have a deep dive into the charging rates on this, but the interesting tidbit and takeaway from that test is that this sustains Front seat comfort is superb; these seats aren’t identical to those found in the S-class, but they’re close enough and provide essentially the same feature set: extended thigh cushion power inflated bolsters Seat massage, four-way adjustable lumbar, electric adjustable memory linked headrest tilt, telescopic power steering column, memory linked heating ventilation, and other features are offered.
We also have the option of entering into the system here and picking automated seat placement, so if I say I’m six feet tall, start positioning, and it will discover what the germans believe is the optimal driving position for me.
Oh, it’s a little higher than I expected, but still pretty comfortable.
I don’t have any official rear seat legroom numbers just yet because, for some reason, the front seats don’t move quite as far back in their tracks as we find in the mercedes-benz s-class, so if you have really long legs, the s 500 may be a little more comfortable than the eqs 580, but rear seat passengers have tons of room back here.
Another thing you’ll notice back here is the width of the back seat area, which is actually narrower than the front.
That boat-like profile that I showed you earlier is really obvious back here where things curve in, and sitting back here in the back seat, the side of the vehicle is a lot closer to my shoulder than it is if I’m sitting up front for me at least one big reason to buy this over the s-class sedan is the cargo area.
It’s about 22 cubic feet when calculated the way most European companies do it, where it’s below the headrests, but of course you have all this space available up here if I pull off this little cargo cover and then roll it right back up you could stack cargo right up to the top you could also fold the seats down this is the s-class that you could put a barbecue in from Home Depot and carry it home no problem there’s also some additional storage space right here on the right there’s also some additional Let’s start the interior tour on the passenger side because if I leave the passenger seat, the screen will default to a selection of home screens in this vehicle right now it’s going to be a compass rose, which you’ll see in a minute.
One thing that I noticed about this system is that we still don’t have apple carplay over here on the passenger side, which I really wish someone would implement because according to Apple, they do support multiple screens but aside from that, The web browser is still a little slow, but it’s definitely an improvement over the web browsers found in previous versions of the mercedes software.
The only particular limitation with this screen appears to be that you can’t adjust the active safety systems over on vehicle settings, which makes a lot of sense going back to the driver’s side, we have different controls and consoles than we find in the rest of the mercedes software.
Looking at the passenger door, you can see the wood strip that runs all the way down to the passenger foot well.
There are a lot of premium materials on the door.
Almost everything is a soft touch material, either stitched or injection molded.
The upper section right here in the armrest is a wetsuit-like material, and the rest of the door is a soft touch injection molded plastic.
Moving on to the dashboard, we have that passenger side lcd that you saw earlier that’s a 12.3 inch lcd air vents around there lots of ambient lighting and then the dashboard is dominated by this absolutely enormous nearly 18 inch lcd in the middle then over here on the driver’s side we have a 6.5 inch lcd and the controls for the front seats with the seat memory heating and ventilation controls.
All three screens are protected by a single large piece of polycarbonate, allowing you to see how spacious the dashboard is.
It stretches all the way from one side to the other, with plenty of ambient lighting.
I like the minimalist wood trim, and I like the fact that Mercedes has kept it in this vehicle.
We have a qi wireless charging mat, as well as six USB charge ports that deliver up to 100 watts, allowing you to charge your macbook or other electronic devices.
Another interesting feature is that we have two charge ports in the large cargo area below, but the other four ports in the car all interface with the system, so you can use Apple Carplay from either of those two ports, your wireless interface, or the two ports in the center console, where we have two cup holders that are removable and some controls for the audio system and the vehicle.
turn on the 360-degree camera bring up certain specific menus, such as the dedicated EQ button right there.
That menu is right there when you press the automobile button.
danger light start/stop button More of that wetsuit-like material right here between the front seats two more usb ports and more room in there than we find in pretty much any other mercedes model thanks to the lack of a transmission right here under the center console if you want a more classic look to the lcd instrument cluster don’t worry you can still get that this display is also used to control the heads-up display we’ll take a look at that in a minute The steering wheel is pretty comparable to previous Mercedes steering wheel models, and we have touch controls on the face.
These aren’t my favorite, but they are much more dependable than touch controls from other manufacturers.
The controls for the adaptive cruise control system are over there on the left, and the controls for the infotainment system are mostly over here on the right.
We still don’t have dedicated track forward and backward buttons, but on the back of the steering wheel we have regen paddles, which I love love love because we can adjust the regen braking this way we basically have three different levels normal recuperation r This model went from 0 to 60 in four seconds flat, which is definitely quick, and the immediacy of the acceleration is probably the first thing you’ll notice if we come to a complete stop.
I’m not testing 0 to 60 because we’re on a slope, and the speed limit here isn’t 60, but just to give you an idea of the acceleration, it’s very instant very quick, and it gets to 100 power output very quickly, which is really the key to getting 0 to The s500 isn’t exactly a light luxury car, but thanks to the 265 with goodyear tires on all four corners, it came to a stop in just 122 feet, which is actually a little faster than something like the lexus ls 500 hybrid, which is considerably lighter.
Of course, when the road bends, the laws of physics must be obeyed, and this is simply not going to grip the road as well as certain versions of the s-class.
If there’s one thing that Tesla excels at, it’s electric motor and powertrain efficiency.
For the range test, I began the eqs batteries at my workplace and drove around San Jose, California in loops.
I was able to put 345 miles on the vehicle before the battery indicated zero and I returned to the office, which is truly impressive, especially considering the eqs is a big heavy sedan that was using the heater the entire time on the day that I was driving around the bay area it was about 50 degrees the heater was on set to 72 degrees in the cabin evs with over 300 miles of real world range are pretty rare, especially when you consider the fac.
I received a score of 345.
If you treat this carefully, don’t use the temperature control, and limit speeds to 65 mph or less, you can easily travel over 350 miles.
This is the kind of eevee that doesn’t need a dc quick charge.
Simply driving from san jose to los angeles may need a dc fast charge, but this is the kind of EV that may easily accomplish a round journey with only one or two dc fast charge stops.
If you’re searching for a long-distance road trip and money isn’t an issue, this should be at the top of your buying list right now.
In North America, the eqs will be offered in two versions: the eqs450 plus and the eqs 580 4matic.
The 450 plus variant, which begins at 100 2 310 and has a 0-60 time of 5.9 seconds and 329 horsepower, is what Mercedes refers to as all wheel drive.
The 584 mac adds a second electric motor for better traction and power, bringing the total to 516 horsepower and 631 pound-feet of torque, with a 0-60 time of 4.1 seconds.
However, that model starts at 119 110, and there are some extra features that are standard on the 580 that are optional on the 450 plus, so the cost of the second electric motor is not as high as you might think.
Mercedes has a reputation for offering a plethora of standalone options on every vehicle they sell, but that’s starting to change with the eqs and a number of other new Mercedes models for 2022 and 2023.
Instead of a plethora of standalone options, we’ll see different trim levels with packaged options in the 580, for example.
The basic version is premium, followed by exclusive, which is the mid-level trim, and finally pinnacle, which is the top-end trim for 122 510.
The special trim includes everything included in the 580’s standard premium trim, plus massaging front seats.
automated temperature control in four zones the cabin ionization system and the cabin fragrance system The pinnacle trim is the highest end trim of the eqs, but it’s strangely not the pinnacle of the eqs lineup since you can still add certain independent extras to the pinnacle trim.
It begins at 125 310, and the pinnacle level adds heated and ventilated rear seats, motorized rear seats, rear side impact airbags (which aren’t included on the other trims for some reason), and rear wireless charging, as well as a few other minor tweaks to the center console.
If you go crazy with all of the options on your eqs, including features like rear neck warmers that I’ve never seen before in a new vehicle, you’ll end up paying around 142 000, which is still a lot less than the top-end version of the Mercedes-Benz S-class.
Don’t worry, if you want even more power, there will be an amg variant of the eqs at some point in the future mercedes has not been overly specific about what The Porsche Tycon begins at $82,700, which is the new basic model for the ticon.
If you get carried away with extras, it may easily cost over a hundred ninety thousand dollars; in fact, the turbo s cross turismo begins at $187,600.
The most crucial thing to note about the ticon is that it is not the same as an eqs.
Aside from the fact that they both operate on electricity, the ticon is much smaller.
It comes in sedan and cross turismo versions.
The taikon’s outstanding performance is mainly focused on managing on-road driving characteristics.
Even while the ticon is excellently crafted and its price falls within the eqs’ price range, it’s crucial to realize that it’s not the identical car on the inside.
The ticon is really a little bit closer to the Model 3 in terms of internal proportions.
It’s a bit more compact sedan sized on the inside, whereas the eqs is quite large it’s a full-size luxury stand it may not be quite as large on the inside as the s-class, the 7-series, or the audi a8, but it’s definitely in that vein outside and on the inside and the ticon on the inside it’s definitely fairly compact on the outside due to the styling it may sort of end up bmw 5 series size depending on Aside from the fact that both of these vehicles are electric, they could not be more dissimilar.
The ticon is clearly more focused on performance, both in terms of handling, acceleration, braking ability, and overall vehicle feel.
It’s definitely a sport sedan or a sports wagon depending on the version you get.
Porsha was looking for fast 0-60 performance, repeatable performance, and track performance, and that’s not really what Mercedes was going for.
Mercedes was really trying to create an s-class for the twenty-first century, so it really just depends on what you’re looking for in an ev.
If you’re looking for balls out performance, the ticon is the way to go.
If you’re searching for the most extravagant and elegant ev, the eqs are the way to go.
Now let’s look at the Tesla Model S.
The important thing to remember about the Tesla is that it’s a mid-sized luxury sedan, not a full-size luxury sedan, which means it’s a step smaller on the inside than the eqs and about the same size on the outside as a 5 series or an e-class, making it a much more direct competitor to the upcoming eqe than the eqs that we’re driving in this video.
The price tag is also more similar to the midsize luxury segment, Even though the e63 amg version of the e-class ends up in a similar price range, the size difference is definitely important to keep in mind because the eqs feels much more roomy on the inside it also feels more premium the materials quality the things that you find on the inside it feels more opulent more luxurious m What about the plaid model? Well, it’s built for those who want to do speedy 0-60 runs.
If you want to do 0-60 in under two seconds, this is the ev for you right now.
Just remember, it’s not the same as the eqs, and neither is the new lucid air.
The lucid air has a price range that is very similar to the tesla model s.
It does get more expensive if you look at the very top end trims, but the lucid air is still a mid-sized sedan.
If you’re looking for one of the most efficient evs available in the US and one of the longest range evs in the US, you should definitely look at the lucid air.
The air is produced by a new firm called lucid, which has certain advantages and disadvantages.
If you’re looking for something a little different and off the beaten road, then check out the lucid.
If you’re looking for an ev from a stable company that has made other cars before and there’s no fear of bankruptcy, you should look at the mercedes or, honestly, the tesla because, while tesla hasn’t exactly made a lot of money here and there, they’ve proven that they’re definitely a going concern and that is one obvious problem with the lucid, we just don’t know what the future of lucid is at the moment so if But if you’re looking for one of the most efficient evs, definitely one of the coolest looking eevees, and one of the longest range evs out there, I’d say the lucid air at the moment, but as far as competition to the eqs goes, in my opinion there’s only one direct competitor at the moment, which is the Mercedes-Benz S-class.
The s-class starts at 109 800 for the base six-cylinder version, so it’s a little more expensive than the eqs, which surprised me because I expected the price tags to be a lot closer together or the eqs to actually be a little bit more expensive than the s-class because with the tax credit it could come down to about the same price tag, but that’s not how Mercedes chose to do things, and they also chose not to make the vehicles look too similar so the The s-class is more upright and traditional than the eqs, even though it has a more rounded and aerodynamic design than the previous model.
It’s also bigger.
The shortest version of the s-class available in the US will give you more rear-seat headroom and legroom than the eqs, as well as a little more shoulder room.