Mercedes-AMG unveiled its EQS and EQE electrical sedans in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
Now we now have AMG’s first electrical SUV, the 2024 EQE, which begins deliveries this fall. It comes with all-wheel drive, seating for 5 and two electrical motors offering 677 horsepower—greater than most sports activities automobiles. Pricing has but to be introduced.
Its physique type seems like most different midsize luxurious SUVs: smoothed like an innocuous jelly bean. However with high-end, state-of-the-art applied sciences below the hood and within the cabin, the EQE spells the daybreak of the golden age of electrical autos.
Homely Exterior
Mercedes-Benz is within the midst of essentially the most thrilling time in its 97-year historical past. It is making vans with interiors like yachts and $200,000 stealth-wealth sedans. It can quickly be including ChatGPT to its infotainment system and can develop into the primary German automaker to undertake Tesla Inc.’s charging plug, permitting future Mercedes homeowners to make use of Tesla’s Supercharger community. (Mercedes drivers will acquire entry to greater than 12,000 of the chargers throughout North America starting in 2024.) And it is launched a number of the most inspiring idea automobiles in current reminiscence.
Once I first noticed it, the EQE seemed like it might fall fairly far down on that checklist of cool issues. Each edge that might’ve made it look dynamic has as a substitute been patted down like an indeterminate mound of sentimental butter. Take away the rectangular grille stamped with vertical struts, the oversize Mercedes three-pointed star plastered in the course of it and the AMG emblem on the hood, and the EQE can be tough to position.
However then I acquired inside. I drove it throughout Los Angeles like a busy guardian operating late to soccer follow. After per week, I’ll have fallen in love. Not a passionate or obsessive love, however a cushty love. Not a fling. That is why I say the EQE signifies the beginning of the halcyon days for EVs.
Electrical SUVs specifically current the most important potential marketplace for EV makers. Final yr greater than half of the 25 bestselling autos within the US have been SUVs. However till lately, drivers who wished an electrical model confronted choices from tech startups whose autos lacked the refinement, high quality and consistency required in something priced and offered as “luxurious”—and so they usually have been positioned as such. (Others, such because the Ford Mustang Mach-E, Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Volkswagen ID.4, have obtained constructive opinions, although these aren’t luxurious SUVs.)
Each Audi and BMW already produced an honest electrical SUV up to now yr. Jaguar has been making is personal since 2018. Mercedes-Benz launched the electrical EQB in 2021. Now that Mercedes-AMG has added the EQE, we have reached a cheerful grouping. The luxurious electrical SUV section is blossoming.
Tech Completed Proper
The very best factor concerning the inside of the EQE—and about the entire automobile, actually—is the massive management middle, which Mercedes calls the MBUX Hyperscreen. I name it the perfect infotainment system at present available on the market. It seems like a single curved display screen that is embedded within the dashboard and extends from A-pillar to A-pillar contained in the automotive, however it’s truly three screens below a single glass cowl that makes them seem like one.
I beloved the magic display screen’s means to deflect glare from the solar and resist prints after repeated sticky-finger jabs onto its floor. These factors alone set it on a degree superior to most.
I used it to hearken to information as I drove to the newsroom. I ran by its a number of massaging and luxury settings on my approach dwelling. I searched its exact, intuitive maps to get to Musso & Frank on Hollywood Boulevard and a bespoke leather-based atelier on Melrose. These capabilities, in fact, aren’t new to Mercedes. However now, because of new software program, they’re at all times simply accessible, tailored to my preferences and set within the prime display screen degree of the pc relatively than buried behind lesser-used capabilities. That so-called zero layer—most popular icons upfront—meant I by no means needed to flip by a number of screens to search out the duty I wished. Bluetooth synced immediately (even the passenger has a display screen to regulate the automotive’s creature comforts as nicely). There’s one thing pleasant in making hands-free telephone calls whereas navigating the tonier corners of Beverly Hills. I believe it is the one time I do not thoughts speaking on the telephone.
Behind the Steering Wheel
The steering wheel is one other spotlight. As with the Mercedes-AMG S63 Hybrid, in case you are inclined to eschew new know-how, chances are you’ll suppose it is gone overboard with buttons. However give it an opportunity. I had loads of time to ponder it as a result of, as , “driving in LA” is code for “sitting in visitors.” In case you ever need some high quality time to sit down immobile, head east on Santa Monica Boulevard at rush hour. You may have loads of alternatives to sit down nonetheless. Or kill time exploring the capabilities in your automotive’s tech programs.
Wrapped in Nappa leather-based and microfiber with a flattened backside and a perforated grip, the wheel has aluminum paddles for choosing energy recuperation ranges. Menus on the left facet may be programmed with roughly 15 data and setting choices. This had the apparent good thing about permitting me to regulate just about the whole lot within the automotive with out shifting my arms from 9 and three.
The EQE has 5 drive modes, which may be chosen utilizing steering wheel buttons. Sport and SportPlus have been the loudest, although I used them extra for his or her further oomph as I pressed the accelerator than for his or her enhanced artificial “engine” word. (You should utilize both steering wheel buttons or the central show to pick sound settings together with “balanced,” “sport,” and “highly effective.”)
The EQE boasts oodles of torque and energy sufficient to hit 60 mph in 3.4 seconds and a prime pace of 149 mph. It has energetic rear-axle steering that enhances dealing with and permits a greater turning radius; ride-stabilization programs decrease physique roll and support precision when turning corners. So it feels nimble for its dimension and weight. It stunned me how shortly it might drop all different visitors as I accelerated up freeway on-ramps. However typically it lacks any sense of driving persona; I’ve but to come across an EV that does not. Its electromechanical energy steering is instantaneously responsive however forfeits a tangible reference to the automotive; even the press of the path indicators is simulated, not the results of an precise mechanical act. The EQE provides quick, if soulless, compliance.
Which does not trouble me in any respect. A household SUV needs to be compliant. Who cares if it would not make me really feel obsessed each time I get behind the wheel? That is what sports activities automobiles are for. The EQE delivers precisely what it guarantees: easy, sturdy energy, high-quality creature comforts and the perfect infotainment in its class. It is the perfect we have seen but in a luxurious electrical SUV. Let the nice occasions roll.
