Mercedes had unveiled the latest addition to its electric vehicle line-up, the EQS SUV.
The EQS SUV is the third electric vehicle produced upon Mercedes all-electric platform, intent on leading the brand towards zero-emission mobility, as part of their Ambition 2039 goal. According to Mercedes, the model will be produced in a completely CO2-neutral way, and “puts real solutions for emission-free mobility, intelligent resource conservation and responsible circular economy on the road”.
Heavily based upon Mercedes’s flagship SUV, the EQS Saloon, the EQS SUV ditches the long-flowing design of the saloon in favour of an SUV body. The SUV shares the same long wheelbase as the Saloon, but sits over 20 centimetres higher. The new cabin offers 7-seats and there’s enough space in the boot for up to four golf bags with five passengers aboard, according to Mercedes.
With a range of up to 660 kilometres and a power output between 265 kW and 400 kW, the EQS SUV more than meets the requirements of a luxury SUV in terms of power delivery.
Mercedes EQS SUVs use up to two electric motors; an electric drivetrain (eATS) on the rear axle and the versions with 4MATIC also have an eATS on the front axle. In 4MATIC models, the Torque Shift function ensures intelligent, continuously variable distribution of drive torque between the rear and front electric motors, which allows the EQS SUV to tackle some light off-roading.
The EQS SUV uses a 107.8 kWh capacity lithium-ion battery with up to 12 cell modules and pouch or hardcase cells. Mercedes will guarantee their unit for a term of 10 years or 250,000 kilometres with a remaining capacity of 70 percent.
The EQS SUV offers several variants of energy recovery by means of regeneration. The driver can manually select the deceleration in four levels D+ (sailing), D (standard regeneration), D- (enhanced regeneration), or DAuto which offers situation-adapted regeneration.
Under the body, the EQS SUV uses a four-link axle at the front and an independent multi-link suspension at the rear. The AIRMATIC air suspension with continuously adjustable damping ADS+ is equipped as standard. All EQS models offer rear axle steering.
Naturally, it wouldn’t be a modern Mercedes without some bleeding edge technology on-board. As in the EQS Saloon, the showpiece of the EQS SUV’s interior is the massive infotainment unit which dominates the entire dashboard. Mercedes calls the huge display MBUX Hyperscreen, which is actually three separate displays, one 17.7-inch and two 12.3-inch screens, under a common bonded glass cover which visually merge into one display. The entire panel is a touch display, which has haptic and force feedback. It takes over-the-air updates, and is paired with a Dolby Atmos sound-system. Powering this gargantuan display is 8 CPU cores, 24 GB RAM and 46.4 GB per second RAM memory bandwidth.
There’s more electronic trickery to be had beyond the Hyperscreen. Mercedes also offers their Digital Light headlamp technology, which can project auxiliary markings or warning symbols onto the road. There’s also the Augmented Reality Head-up Display that shows relevant information and actions three-dimensionally in the real driving situation and surroundings. The EQS SUV can even simulate different noises for when you accelerate, one of the options is “Roaring Pulse”, which Mercedes claims is meant to be reminiscent of a powerful machine.
Local pricing and launch of the EQS SUV for the New Zealand market is yet to be confirmed.
Key model specs are detailed below.
