The Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV has been revealed, giving the German company a plush-but-practical alternative to the Tesla Model X. It’s the latest car to join a pure-electric SUV line-up that includes the EQA, EQB and EQC.
Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV Price, On-Sale Date and Rivals
The Mercedes EQS SUV will start from £130,000 when it goes on sale in November, allowing it to compete with high-end versions of the Tesla Model X SUV, which is priced from £70,000 to £150,000 depending on which model you go for.
While the EQS can get up to 410 miles between charges, compared to the Model X’s 348-mile maximum range, the Tesla comes with the backing of the firm's excellent Supercharger network giving you unrivalled access to banks of fast chargers up and down the country.
Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV Interior and Infotainment
The Mercedes EQS SUV will hope to win over Tesla owners with its plush interior and, you’ve got to say, that seems likely.
Inside, it gets the same Hyperscreen infotainment system that you’ll find in the EQS saloon. It turns the dashboard into an expansive display that’s made up of a 12.3-inch digital instrument binnacle, 17.2-inch central screen and another 12.3-inch display for the front-seat passenger. The result looks like it belongs in the Starship Enterprise navigate galaxies, not in an SUV doing the school run.
As you’d expect, it will come packed with gadgets. Things like augmented reality satnav that appears to draw its directions onto an image of the road displayed on-screen, along with a 360-degree bird's-eye camera that gives you an overhead view of the car.
Mercedes-Benz’s MBUX operating system ties the whole lot together. It can understand colloquial commands with reasonable accuracy bursting into life when you begin with the phrase “Hey Mercedes…” or you can just use your smartphone’s more-reliable system via Apple CarPlay or Android Auto.
If the tech’s not enough to give Tesla a cold sweat then the material quality ought to. The EQS has plenty of bling, with unvarnished woods, brushed metals and padded leathers, backed up by copper and shiny-black plastic highlights. It looks great in pictures and, if the EQS saloon is anything to go by, it will feel pretty good in person, too.
But while the EQS saloon is more of a luxury express, its SUV namesake can roll up its sleeves and deal with being on the frontline of family life.
Up front, you’ll get electric seats with every adjustment imaginable, rigorous massaging functions, cooling and heating. The back seat will have almost as much space as you get in front and you’ll be able to have it heated and cooled, too. The back seat rolls back and forth on runners allowing you to balance between rear seat room and boot space – boot capacity sits at a staggering 880 litres with the seats in their most forward position, or 645 litres with them back.
Want another layer of practicality? Then you’ll be able to specify a third row of seats, but with them in use, boot space nosedives to just 195 litres or the same as you get in a Volkswagen Up city car.
Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV Range, Charging and Performance
You can choose from three Mercedes EQS SUV models – the rear-wheel-drive EQS 450, plus all-wheel-drive models called the EQS 450 4Matic and the EQS 580 4Matic.
All versions come with a massive 107.8kWh battery that can be charged at speeds of up to 200kW, so you can get the battery from 10-80% in just 31 minutes using the latest fast charger.
The basic 355bhp 450 model is the long-range champion – it can get up to 410 miles between charges – and although Mercedes hasn’t revealed performance figures, 0-62mph in less than seven seconds seems likely.
Trading up to the all-wheel-drive 355bhp 450 4Matic gets you quicker acceleration – Mercedes claims 0-62mph in 5.8 seconds – but the car’s range drops to 380 miles.
Impressively, the 580 4Matic matches the 450’s range, but with 536bhp it can shoot itself from 0-62mph in 4.5 seconds.
How to Look After your Electric Car Battery
But what will the EQS feel like to drive? Right now, our best guess is... comfortable. Very comfortable. Silent electric motors mean there’s no drivetrain noise and Mercedes has worked to isolate the car’s suspension and motors from the rest of the cabin so there’s no mechanical harshness transmitted through to you.
With a single gear, the Mercedes should drive like a seamless automatic and the car will slow when you take your foot off the accelerator using its regenerative brakes to recharge its battery. You should only have to use the actual brakes in an emergency or when you’re coming to a complete stop.
Air suspension with variable dampers should help it waft over bumps and surface changes, while rear-wheel steering should give this large SUV the manoeuvrability of a family car like the Volkswagen Golf.
We’ll have a full review of the Mercedes EQS following the car's launch in November.