MERCEDES-BENZ EQS SUV

Stuttgart tries to outsmart the BMW ix

THE PLUSH SEVEN-SEAT EQS SUV is the third car based on Mercedesbenz’s Ev-specific EVA2 platform. Stretching to over 5.2 metres, it sits at the very top of the EQ line-up and is planned to form the basis of an even more luxurious Maybach variant.

The proportions are quite different from those of Mercedes’ combustion-engined SUV models, with a shorter bonnet and a longer wheelbase affording a large cabin.

“It’s not a conversion design,” says Holger Enzmann, head of vehicle integration for Eva2-based cars. “Rather, it has been developed from the ground up without the compromises that you eventually run into when backing [an EV] onto an existing [ICE] platform.”

The prototype I’m driving at Mercedes’ winter-testing facility in Sweden is an EQS 580 SUV, which the manufacturer says will have slightly more power and torque than the EQS 580 saloon, whose dualmotor driveline kicks out a sturdy 516bhp and 630lb ft of torque.

The uplift is to compensate for the SUV’S increased weight, which is expected to nudge 2600kg. On a related note, you sit 80mm higher than in the EQS saloon. You get a very commanding view forward within a capacious and fittingly upmarket cabin, and there’s an outstanding amount of leg room in the rear.

Predictably, the EQS SUV offers strong performance, even on ice. It’s silent off the mark but also extremely urgent and terrifically smooth. A determined stab of the throttle pins you into the expanse of the driver’s seat as the huge torque reserves are deployed individually to each wheel.

Nothing is official at this stage, but we expect the EQS 580 SUV to post a 0-62mph time of less than 4.5sec.

With its huge, 120kwh battery mounted low, the EQS SUV also corners smartly and with good response for such a large, tall car.

The air suspension allows only a small degree of body roll, and even that builds in a progressive manner. The car feels sure-footed, even if you never lose that sense of its size and weight.

One of the keys to its impressive handling is the all-wheel steering. As in the EQS saloon, the system generates up to 10deg of steering angle at the rear, contributing to allround manoeuvrability and stability.

It will be a few months before we get to drive the EQS SUV on public roads, but in benefiting from the development that has already gone into the EQS and EQE saloons, it promises to provide stiff competition to the likes of the BMW ix and the Tesla Model X. GREG KABLE