Benz EV less pricey than gas-powered match
That said, the Mercedes battery is not so bad at charging. While peak charging is about 170 kilowatts, some 100 kW less than the fast-charging Porsche Taycan, its average charging speed between 10 per cent and 80 per cent, according to EVKX.com, is 132.2 kW. However, charging from zero to 100 per cent still takes almost an hour.
THE INTERIOR IS A DIGITIZED WONDERLAND
If you think Apple’s iPad is the ultimate in man-machine interface, you’re gonna love this AMG. Not only is the driver’s gauge set totally LCD’d and the main infotainment screen huge, at 12.8 inches, but there’s a passenger control screen as well where, in years long past, one might have found a glove box. Like I said, if you think tablets are the ultimate in communications device, you’re going to love the AMG EQE.
What causes more consternation are some of the manual controls that Mercedes thinks are part of our new digital age. First and foremost are two haptic switches that control two of the functions needing the finest control in the car: the speed at which we set the cruise control, and the volume we desire from the audio system.
Two of these diabolical little affairs are located on the steering wheel, each about the size of a thumb. Gross controls are easy. For instance, going up and down 10 kilometres an hour in your desired cruise-control speed is as easy as tapping either the top or the bottom of the switch. Trying to adjust to any speed in between the two and you’ll get why the nerd-ification of our cars has become so infuriating.
Apparently, what you’re supposed to do is slide your thumb delicately and precisely along the button to increase or decrease speed in one-kilometre-an-hour increments. Now, to be fair, there’s a reason I took up boxing rather than becoming a world-class pianist, but such fine digital — and this time I mean fingers — motor control should not be required just to claim your desired speed from a service that is supposed to increase your motoring convenience.
PITTING BENZ’S AMG EQE AGAINST THE GLE
The EQE’s most direct competitor is the company’s own gas-powered GLE. While the EQE has slightly more front-seat head- and legroom, pretty much all the rest of the important interior dimensions — shoulder and rear legroom — are better in the GLE. Ditto cargo space, where, depending on whether you’re measuring luggage space with the rear seats in place or folded, the GLE’s advantage can approach 50 per cent. That the EQE’s wheelbase — the usual determinator of interior legroom and cargo capacity — is 35.5 mm (1.4 inches) longer just adds to the contradiction.
The AMG EQE does regain an advantage in an equally surprising way: it actually costs less than its gasfed equivalent, the GLE 63 S AMG. The former starts, as I mentioned, at $128,900, but the fossil-fuelled 63 S costs a whopping $161,900 minimum. Considering both have about the same acceleration to 100 km/h, the 63’s main advantage — besides rear-seat room and cargo capacity — would seem to be range and charging speed.
The 2024 AMG EQE SUV remains another stalwart effort by Mercedes’ performance division. In so many areas — acceleration, build quality and opulent accommodations — it remains state-of-the-art. However, if AMG wants to remain competitive with the likes of Porsche and Lucid, it’s going to have to up its battery and charging speed game.