The German company just unveiled the EQS, a high-end electric vehicle that directly competes with Tesla’s venerable Model S. I just drove a top-of-the-line EQS 580, which costs $141,000. And even though I adored its opulent interior and exceptionally extended range, it still has certain drawbacks.
You become immediately shielded from the turbulent outside world the moment you close yourself inside the EQS. Its plush seats, high-end materials, ambient lighting, and sturdy construction combine to create a stylish environment that prompts the question, “Is Goldman hiring?”
Despite being a large vehicle, the EQS doesn’t drive like one. That’s because it has an integrated rear-wheel steering system that enables it to turn more quickly.
In fact, it’s so efficient that when I first saw it racing through a parking lot, I was totally unprepared for it. The EQS 580 skidded into parking spaces like a Fiat thanks to the enhanced rear-wheel steering kit that is an optional extra.
In the EQS, which essentially serves as your own butler, you don’t need to move a muscle. You can ask it to turn on your massage seat, and it will do it willingly.
In comparison to conventional gas vehicles, even inexpensive electric cars are very quiet and comfortable to drive. The EQS, though, is a cut above. It travels down the road like a hovercraft, completely unaffected by potholes and paving cracks.
Regenerative braking, which transfers energy from a car’s motors to its battery pack, is how the EQS, like all EVs, slows down when you let off the gas pedal. The interaction between the brake pedal and the regen, however, wasn’t completely perfected by Mercedes.
It can be frightening to stop the car suddenly since you frequently have to stomp harder and farther than you anticipate.
When investing $100,000 or more in an electric vehicle, it must have the characteristic that EV buyers value most: range. The Environmental Protection Agency has estimated a generous range of 340 miles for the all-wheel-drive EQS 580. The rear-wheel-drive EQS 450+ ensures up to 350. (That base model costs just a little bit over $100,000.).
If you choose the optional “Hyperscreen” add-on, the EQS is a technological wonderland with not one, not two, but three distinct screens up front. If you include the head-up display, which projected crucial driving information like speed and turn-by-turn directions onto the windshield, that number rises to four. Five if you count the tablet that the “Executive Rear Seating” package gives the back passengers.
A forward-facing camera view with a blue arrow directing you to the turn or the exit appears as you get close to it. Additionally, when you flick the turn signal while driving on the highway, Mercedes’ advanced cruise control feature quickly changes lanes.
There’s even a fingerprint reader that customers can use to access their preferred driving settings.
