Every now and then, a car transcends the whole notion of motoring simply by its existence. That’s the Mercedes-Benz EQS-Class; the first flagship electric luxury sedan from the world’s oldest car maker. And it’s the first built on the new, first-generation electric-native platform. That’s a lot of firsts. Practically speaking, the electric automotive revolution is the exciting business story of our times. Philosophically speaking, it’s Darwin and Adam Smith unbound—capitalist warfare at its most intense. The EQS is all that and more.
This car arrives with huge expectations. It’s supposed to be brilliant, packed with artificial intelligence, comfort, luxury, torque, range, and then more range. On hand were both EQS models—the 450+ (base $102,310) and the 580 4Matic ($119,110) —three days with both. Across northern California, from towering Tahoe peaks to the flats of the Sacramento River Delta.
The exterior styling has been the subject of some snark. Comparisons have been made to everything from a supersized Lincoln MKX to a novelty computer mouse. Benz claims it has an extraordinarily low drag coefficient and that this largely determines the shape. Nevertheless, its exterior aesthetic statement is subjective. This writer found it rather elegant.
Don’t simply pop the hood and expect to be impressed. In fact, that can’t be done with the EQS. There is no latch for the front compartment. Doesn’t exist. You’re not supposed to look or touch this car’s innards. There’s a strange little portal ahead of the driver’s-side front door that pops open like the detergent drawer on a laundry machine. That is for the windshield wiper fluid intake. That’s it for DIY maintenance. A little weird, yes. Guess there was no place else to put it.
It’s inside this car that the magic begins. The EQS is not just an automobile. It’s a platform for extraordinary computing power. Like other cars, throw it in drive and it will go. But engage its interface and experience this ride as it’s meant to be — a supercomputer with wheels and horsepower — it comes alive right through the driver’s fingertips.
The most notable interior element is the “hyperscreen” that spans the entire length of the instrument panel. This panoramic motherboard controls everything but the windows and door latches. The charging options, head-up-display, stability control, active steering assist, active lane-keep assist—all that is adjustable on the touchscreen. Same with driving modes—Eco, Comfort, Sport, or “Individual” (in which the driving parameters can be customized with, say, sport steering and sport suspension and then comfort everything else). At some point, this artificially intelligent car becomes just intelligent; it gets to know you. Your voice, your face, your fingerprint. Eerie? Damn right. But eminently useful.
On rural farm roads, the more expensive of the two EQS models, the 580, contends easily and confidently with swift elevation changes, fast bends, and no traffic outside of a few random tractors. Rated at 516-horsepower and 631 lb-ft of torque, with a claimed 4.1 zero to sixty shot, the thing is a 5,000-plus pound pavement consumption system. At first, the steering felt wet-noodlish; the car could be controlled with a pinky finger with no urgency. Then the supercomputing power kicks in. Switch the steering mode from comfort to sport and there’s instant sports car feedback, while the more efficient modes for the rest of the car are sustained. At one point, outside the one-time Chinese settlement of Locke, California, the roads became so ruddy, there were more potholes than pavement. Switch the suspension from sport to comfort and the car swallows up the bumps.
Point is: MB had to create an electric car for all kinds of drivers — those who spend their afternoons heading to Bloomingdale’s in West Palm Beach, those who think they’re the second coming of Parnelli and everything in between. This car succeeds at both extremes. More time will test all the variations in between.
More time in this cockpit, meant discovering more of the vehicle’s brilliance. The nav system sets a new standard for intuitive operation, and the huge display and clear graphics made it the safest too. It is so easy to gather all the information you could need at a split-second glance that it’s always reassuring. The commanding yet comforting navigation voice even says please as she directs you. The headrest felt like a pillow from a four-star German hotel. Mercedes even built a quaint little cushion into the floorboard where your left footrests (since there’s no clutch), heightening the pleasure of toe-tapping to the rhythm of your music.
Speaking of music, Burmester 3D Surround Sound audio comes standard in this car and rivals anything out there that’s not an exotic custom installation. This is also an important point when discussing a car with no thumping pistons. Sound quality becomes a major issue, as the radio is always on.
There was no shortage of luxury options built into the test sled: Augmented Reality Head-Up Display ($2,000), Black Microfiber Headliner ($1,600), Exclusive Trim with massage seats ($1,575). Will this car drive itself like a Tesla will? Nope. That’s okay. If we want someone else to drive, we’ll take an Uber. But the most critical job that a car like this one has to do, it does beautifully. It can be a luxury car or an all-star middle linebacker, at any time, with the touch of its screen. And without emitting carbon.
The Mercedes suits made sure every engineer in the company down to the interns understood one thing: This car has to succeed, and attention to detail is how that is going to happen.
One of the most scintillating aspects of the new EV competition is the battery wars. Whoever can solve the charging conundrum best is going to sell more cars, period. Lucid’s Air Dream Edition, for example, comes out of the gate with a 520 miles EPA certificated range, to go with its 933-horsepower. Big numbers for a startup! The EQS comes in at 350 (for the 450+) and 340 (for the more powerful and expensive 580)—better than the Audi e-tron and the Porsche Taycan, but not quite up to snuff with the Tesla Model S Long Range.
We started our EQS 450+ drive in the parking lot of a Starbucks at the base of the Sierra Nevada foothills. Basically, sea level. The stated range led off with 277 miles and our chestnut praline latte was properly frothed. (Compared to the 580, the 450 may seem tame. But rated at 329 horsepower and 419 lb.-ft. of torque, with a 5.9 second zero to sixty it’s hardly a slouch.) The goal was to throw the EQS into sport mode and charge up Donner Pass, the peak of the I-80 corridor through the Sierra Nevada Mountains, at 7,057-feet above sea level. Along this route, there would be almost no charging opportunity. Nothing but wilderness. It’s an 85-minute drive, uphill steeply almost all the way, and we were steaming at a steady 80 mph. It’s a gorgeous drive, but we specifically engineered it to induce range anxiety. Not only did we have to get to the top of Donner Pass, but we had to get back, too.
The 450 didn’t have the all-wheel drive that the 580 did, but it did have four-wheel steering, which the 580 did not. Not that you can tell when you’re driving it. Halfway up the mountain (about 40 miles, with roughly 3,000 feet of elevation gain), we noticed the range gauge staring at us through the spokes of the steering wheel had gone from 277 miles to 186. We kept throttling uphill, and at the Emigrant Gap exit, our range had dropped to 147. At the Kingvale exit, we had 119 left.
Donner Summit takes its name, of course, from the Donner Party, and it summons images of stranded travelers being forced to eat each other because they ran out of food and resources. Our adventure was less dramatic, but still… The miles were ticking off the range gauge in high speed, with nowhere to charge. The ESQ ultimately powered through the pass with a range of 107 miles left. We had pumped through 170 miles of range, having only driven an actual 75 miles.
This is an important point, and not just for this specific car: Any EV is going to face this issue, from any manufacturer. The electric revolution is happening, and the EQS is proof there is no turning back. Obviously, infrastructure and batteries have a long way to go before consumers can be all-in, comfortably.
In the end, the EQS proved to be hugely quick, massively fun, and adorably luxurious. It’s a triumph of computer and automotive engineering. And, down the mountain, the EQS traveled all 75 miles while the stated range barely changed at all.
A.J. Baime is the author of seven books, including Go Like Hell: Ford, Ferrari, and Their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans, and The Accidental President: Harry S. Truman and the Four Months that Changed the World. An R&T editor-at-large, he has driven cars on racetracks all over the U.S. and Europe, going back to 2007. He is proudly the R&T staff’s slowest track driver.
