2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS 580 4MATIC: Tesla Eat Your Coronary heart Out

It’s taken a couple of years, however it looks as if I’m lastly warming as much as the thought of high-powered, luxurious EVs. I assume it simply took a close to $150,000 Mercedes-Benz to actually flip that leaf …

After spending every week behind the wheel of this technological marvel, we discover it laborious to consider that consumers out there for a high-end electrical automobile would look anyplace else. And whereas it’s not as performance-driven because the Mercedes-AMG EQE we had the pleasure of driving in France a couple of months in the past, it’s undoubtedly up there by way of drive expertise and inside luxuries.

A Step Above

From the second you open the door to the Mercedes EQS you might be overrun with a sense of opulence, type, and class. Now, our explicit mannequin featured a really mild cream leather-based inside which is completely gorgeous to take a look at, however oh so troublesome to really feel comfy in. Passengers have been afraid to the touch surfaces and we even felt hesitant about bringing bottles of water into the automotive, for worry of spilling on the stainless surfaces.

Mild colors apart, all the things else within the EQS 580 4MATIC is past superb. Let’s take a second to understand the 56” – sure, you learn that accurately – absolutely digital sprint that stretches from the motive force’s door all the best way to the passenger. The completely large MBUX Hyperscreen is an engineering and design marvel and is most undoubtedly one of many foremost speaking factors within the EQS.

Not solely is the display screen intuitive and simple to navigate, however even the passenger will get their very own display screen they usually can entry navigation and leisure and even hook up their very own Bluetooth audio system and an HDMI cable to look at their very own leisure on the drive.

Oh, and did we point out the 64 color combos out there for the ambient lighting? Trailing throughout the automotive within the sprint and doorways and even within the seats, the lighting is a spectacular show at night time and passengers have entry to the ambient mild choices (notice: it might occupy them for prolonged journeys!).

The one actual “downfall” to the EQS’ inside design is that it lacks a frunk. As a substitute, there’s a giant HEPA filter there to make sure cabin air is appropriately filtered (and you may even select particular scents to be blown into the house). Nonetheless, the trunk is a lot giant sufficient, due to the coupe hatch within the rear.

Stepping All Over Tesla Territory

Now, in fact, Teslas have owned the market by way of vary and luxurious – till now. And sure, we all know, nearly all of elements inside a Tesla are in reality from the Mercedes manufacturing facility bins. But, one way or the other, as soon as behind the wheel of the EQS the Tesla felt like an econobox compared.

With 547km of vary (an enormous quantity that may not often see drivers expertise any kind of anxiousness between stops, particularly given the prolonged charging station infrastructure now in place in main cities and alongside main nationwide highways), the Mercedes-Benz EQS is supplied with Superior Completely Synchronous Electrical Motors that produce a mixed horsepower output of 516 ponies together with 631 lb-ft of torque.

The wonder behind all this energy? It’s prompt and linear. And as aggressive as these numbers would possibly sound, the EQS is nothing however managed and civilized, even when pushed.

Now, charging is finished greatest with a Degree 3, at the least, because of the dimension of the batteries. However, so long as you could have entry to that, you’ll be golden in terms of cost instances and holding your electrical Benx absolutely topped up always.

At first, we didn’t care in any respect for the outside look of the EQS. It truly is harking back to the Tesla Mannequin S because it has the identical silhouette, sloping entrance nostril and huge hatchback coupe trunk opening. However the longer we had it, and the extra we seemed because it as we walked away, the deeper we fell in love with the general form.

Now, that is Merc’s flagship electrical, so it’s the largest and subsequently fairly lengthy and huge, however that doesn’t present within the total outdoors design. We may do with out the flat-front snout in entrance (a horrible design flaw on most EVs), however the total look of the Benz EQS is one which’s fairly elegant and prone to final for years to come back.

The Thriller of the Ghost Pedal…

Our foremost gripe concerning the drive? It’s an odd factor, so bear with us: the brake pedal.

Electrical autos provide one thing known as “one-pedal driving” which mainly means you by no means should press the brake pedal (if you happen to don’t need to), as a result of the automobile will use regenerative braking to sluggish the automotive down as an alternative. That is superb for recuperating power and charging your battery when you drive. I’ve used this characteristic in numerous different EVs and adore it.

Nonetheless, within the Benz EQS it was a bit bit stunning and took some getting used to as a result of the automobile really depresses the brake pedal. This implies, as I took my foot off the throttle the Merc began to brake, really MOVING the pedal down. As a result of I didn’t have to have my foot on the brake instantly it wasn’t there to really feel the pedal transfer, however after I DID have to press the brake (stopped at a light-weight or a cease signal) my foot instinctively moved over to the place the pedal SHOULD have been (muscle reminiscence) and it wasn’t.

It shocked me sufficient to make me query my sanity and look down within the footwell below the steering wheel as I assumed the pedal had all however disappeared.

All that being mentioned, as soon as you might be used to the way it behaves and know that occurs, you may modify the place your foot travels to have interaction the brake pedal (just a bit decrease down).

Falling in Love with Gasoline-less Automobiles

I feel I can lastly admit that I’m very quickly falling in love with battery-powered autos – one thing I by no means believed would occur. Clearly, the extent of luxurious within the EQS helps with the attraction immensely – and I personally haven’t pushed the Porsche Taycan but to check … (simply saying, *cough*Porsche Canada*cough*). Nonetheless, it was extra concerning the ease with which the EQS drove every day and interacted with the world. It was like some other automotive on the market, and but a lot extra. A real engineering and design feat on 4 wheels, this factor is spectacular in so some ways.