EQE leads Merc’s Munich charge
E-Class counterpart joined by electric G-Class & EQS SUV
THIS is the Mercedes EQE – an all-electric counterpart to the E-Class saloon and the second model in Mercedes’ EQ line-up to be based on a purpose-made electric car platform.
Like the EQS, the EQE makes use of the EVA2 platform and will be built at the firm’s largest factory in Bremen from mid-2022. The EQE is slightly longer, wider and taller than the E-Class saloon, while its 3,120mm wheelbase is longer than that of the China-only E-Class Long Wheelbase limo. Allied to the aerodynamic four-door coupé shape, the EQE is more in line with the CLS than anything else in the brand’s combustion-engined line-up.
It takes plenty of design inspiration from its larger EQS sibling, featuring a similar front-end design with a large black panel in place of the grille. At the rear, a traditional saloon boot-lid has a full-width LED tail-light bar and a small integrated lip spoiler.
The EQE rides on steel-spring suspension, but adaptive air suspension is optional, as is the four-wheel-steering system used on the EQS limo.
Inside, the EQE takes heavy inspiration from the larger EQS. In fact, the dashboard is nearly identical when the EQE is fitted with the optional MBUX Hyperscreen system – a full-width OLED display encompassing the entire surface area of the dashboard with three interactive display areas.
Mercedes says two variants will be available from launch and that 4MATIC versions are coming, and it’s not hard to imagine the arrival of AMG models later.
For now, the brand has detailed one version: the EQE 350. Its battery has a usable energy content of 90kWh and there’s a 215kW electric motor is mounted on the rear axle, developing 288bhp and 530Nm of torque. Performance figures haven’t been released but Mercedes says that, pending final WLTP homologation, a range of up to 410 miles on a single charge is possible. DC charging of 170kW is possible for a 10-80 per cent top-up in 32 minutes.
EQE prices are likely to be much higher than the E-Class’s, starting from around £60,000 when it goes on sale in 2022.