MERCEDES-BENZ EQS FIRST DETAILS
MERC FLAGSHIP TO OFFER 770KM ELECTRIC RANGE
If you can’t drag yourself out of the lavish, tech-laden cabin, you’re in luck – this thing will do 770km on a charge
WITH ITS 770km driving range, the ultra-aerodynamic Mercedes-Benz EQS 450 Plus will be a true Tesla beater, able to travel over 100km further on a charge than anything the American company currently sells. And it is only one of the company’s family of purpose-designed EVs...
EQS is the first model to use Mercedes’ new purpose-designed EVA electric vehicle architecture. Sales in Europe begin in June, and it will reach Australia very late this year or early 2022.
EQS vehicle testing head Frank Wundrak told Wheels the EQS 450 Plus is one of two versions of the long and large five-seat hatch that will be available from launch. It has a single 245kW/550Nm motor driving the rear wheels and a 108kWh underfloor battery pack. “I’m sure your family will need a toilet stop before the EQS needs a recharging stop,” he joked.
And those stops will be quick, so long as it is plugged into a powerful charger. That will add 300km of range in only 15 minutes.
Drag-reduction features, including a special wheel design, mean the
EQS 450 Plus sets a new production car record for aerodynamics. Its coefficient of drag is a neat 0.20, Mercedes-Benz proudly claims.
The other launch model will have the same big battery pack, but two motors instead of one, making it all-wheel drive. Combined maximum power and torque for the EQS 580 are 385kW and “more than 800Nm”.
The driving range of the EQS 580, according to the WLTP test standard also used for the EQS 450 Plus, will be between 600 and 700km.
And there will be more EQS variants. “We will have another battery, with 90kWh, which will come later,” said Wundrak.
He said the EQS, unlike its conventional equivalent, the S-Class, will be produced with only one wheelbase. “But we of course have more models based on this electric vehicle architecture.”
He ticked off a smaller sedan and two SUVs that will also be based on the EVA architecture and confirmed for production – EQE, EQS SUV and EQE SUV – “and of course there could be more...”
JOHN CAREY