MERCEDES BENDS THE RULES
The low-slung, rapid EQS is an AMG performance car but not as we know it
Seatbelts ratchet tighter, automatically pinning your torso into place, when you activate launch control in Mercedes-AMG’s first electric car. There’s blockbuster theatre in the form of a light show and synthesised score as you prepare for launch.
Then it happens.
Like a jet fighter catapulted from an aircraft carrier, the Mercedes-AMG EQS 53 tears into the tarmac with 560kW and 1020Nm of unbridled ferocity. There’s no afterburner on this jet but it does have permanently agitated synchronous motors, ceramic inverters with needle-shaped pin-fins and specially wound stators. In the same way Mercedes-AMG used to crow about a new V8, it now gushes about a rear electric motor combining two windings with three phases each. This is the new language of performance cars. A 3.4-second dash to 100km/h is fast in any dialect, though.
The Merc has a price tag to match its performance, coming in at $328,400 plus onroad costs (about $350,000 drive-away).
It has a 107.8kWh battery with a claimed 585 kilometres of range. Built on 400-volt architecture, the EQS receives charge at a 200kW rate that can add 300 kilometres of range in 19 minutes. Fitted as standard with front and rear motors claiming a combined 484kW and 950Nm, the EQS requires owners to spend an extra $7690 to upgrade to 560kW and 1020Nm thrust.
Customers might also consider ceramic brakes ($9990) and a truly impressive head-up display that projects arrows and street names into your field of view ($2690). You can go the whole hog with a comfort package ($9290) adding luxuries such as rear infotainment screens and a “nap mode” reclining the driver’s chair for a snooze at charging stations.
All that builds on standard features that include four-zone climate control, massaging seats, a panoramic sunroof and powered lift back covering a truly enormous boot.
It’s not the most attractive Benz. There are odd proportions at play. It has a wheelbase some 36 centimetres longer than the latest Toyota Land-Cruiser and an unconventionally arching, bow-shaped roofline. But this bar-ofsoap body has the slipperiest aerodynamics on the road and its enormous wheelbase translates to a luxuriantly spacious cabin.
Beauty is found inside, where premium materials framed by delicate ambient lighting join a truly enormous digital display. We normally discuss display size in inches, but Mercedes says its “hyperscreen” is a staggering 1.4 metres wide. Three huge screens lie under a single piece of glass spanning the width of the dashboard, where an enormous central OLED display is flanked by horizontal elements for the driver and passenger.
There’s tech at work on the road, too. Mercedes’ full array of driving assistance features are standard, joining active air suspension and adaptive shock absorbers that vary behaviour according to your preferred driving mode.
If shattering acceleration is the EQS’ primary party trick, the second showstopper is a four-wheel-steering system cranking the rear wheels to eye-popping angles. Cars this long should feel unwieldy in town, but the EQS’s other-worldly turning circle betters the latest Honda Civic by more than a metre.
It’s an incredibly easy car to use in everyday driving – near-silent, comfortable and easy to place on the road. The ride is busier than a petrol S-Class (but more settled than conventional AMG models) and you really feel the effect of its 2.6-tonne mass when approaching corners at speed. Powerful brakes and imperious traction work in its favour, though it lacks the feedback and precision of finely honed sports sedans.
Brilliant in its own regard, the EQS is tricky to place in the Mercedes family. It’s smarter but less plush than the S-Class and faster yet less visceral than the brand’s back catalogue.
If a V8-powered AMG at full noise is like a live rock concert, the EQS’ digital tune is electro-funk from a smartphone’s loudspeaker. While technically impressive, the EQS doesn’t deliver the muscular looks, bloodcurdling song or dynamic athleticism of AMG’s finest.