Mercedes-Benz launched the EQS electric SUV in India at Rs. 1.41 crore, ex-showroom. The company would be manufacturing this car at its Pune facility. This will be the second launch from the EQS lineup and will follow the sedan. Many commonalities can be said about powertrain, the interiors, and features of the EQS electric SUV with the sedan.
The India-spec version of the EQS that Mercedes will offer will come with an all-wheel-drive 580 4Matic configuration, and these will be offered with seven seats as standard. The car also gets an AMG Line package, which includes sporty bumpers, in addition to 21-inch alloy wheels.
Powering the EQS 580 4Matic is a 122 kWh battery offering an ARAI-certified range of 809 km on a single charge. It drives a pair of electric motors producing 537 BHP and 858 Nm and enables the EV to rush from 0-100 km/h in 4.7 seconds.
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Mercedes EQS SUV Pros
• Well-rounded product, good to drive and be driven in
• Futuristic interiors and exteriors, very unique
• 580 version is an exciting power and torque
• Loaded with technology and features
• Good range in real-world situation for intercity travel without a care
Mercedes EQS SUV Cons
• Not too imposingly looking as one would want an SUV to be
• Some missing features such as sunshades for rear windows, rear seat massage, ventilation, etc.
• Brake feel takes getting used to
• The third row best for kids, not the place for adults
• UI takes getting used to, especially with some functions
Exterior
From the front, this SUV looks like the EQS sedan. Strikingly similar-the DRL strip running across (it’s off in the image because the parking lights were on). Not as butch as one would want an SUV to be, but sleek. AMG Sport kit does go rather well with it though:
- A dummy grille and a piano black panel dominate the front with beautiful concentric circles of the 3 pointed star:
- As has always been said about the vehicles of Mercedes-Benz, the EQS SUV form does not make one guess at least from the front three quarters.
- The teardrop (egg) shape of the EQS SUV is made out rather clearly. It does have this futuristic theme going on too:
A little weird when one realizes there are almost no functional vents.
Overall, the EQS 580 SUV looks pleasing and functional but unexciting.
Interior
Inside, the EQS comes with Mercedes’ Hyperscreen, comprising a huge 17.7-inch touchscreen for infotainment, a 12.3-inch instrument cluster, and an additional 12.3-inch screen on the passenger side. Features like 5-zone automatic climate control, soft-close doors, rear seat entertainment screens, 9 airbags, and Level 2 ADAS come with the electric SUV.
The dashboard is pretty much the same as the EQS sedan. Futuristic to the max.
Front door with the seat and window controls. Fancy-looking Burmester speaker grille comes as part of the Burmester 3D surround system. The door pocket is rather large too; storage places are aplenty in the EQS SUV:
Legroom + comfortable seats. These rear seats do recline a bit too and fold forward and backward electrically as well. Heating is available here, but there’s no ventilation or massage. Quite an unusual thing. But great to spend time in the rear seat screens and the center armrest with a tablet. Generally, they are rather comfortable and on par with GLS:
Driving the EQS 580 4Matic SUV
The EQS 580 SUV is offered with a pair of electric motors making 544 BHP and 858 Nm combined. Now I’ll confess upfront that I am not all too familiar with electric vehicles nor have I driven too many of them (like my ICE vehicles). So if some observations seem obvious, forgive me.
Only when you see a ‘ready’ light on the instrument cluster will you know that you are ready to move with a touch of the start button. Shift into D, and it starts moving off. It feels just like any other Mercedes I’ve owned off the line – smooth! Given the amount of torque available, the EQS responds nicely or seems always ready to go off the line.
In a city, it feels light and easy to move around because the bulk and length are hidden, and one cannot tell they’re maneuvering a rather large vehicle. Instant torque hides that even more and closing gaps in traffic and overtake are done very easily without much effort.
The rear-wheel steering certainly helps and can be felt during a tight turn or while generally darting about in traffic. But it is surprising how this egg-shaped car moves with a push of the A pedal down. It sure did surprise me and even my co-driver (SDP) with quick acceleration and big torque! It’s claimed 0-100 km/h time is 4.7 seconds, and I believe it is not one little bit.
Ride quality around town is good; the suspension does its job remarkably quietly and smooth’s out almost all the small and many of the medium bumps. Of course, not as smooth as an S-Class but it takes the larger bumps better than an S-Class would for that matter, I felt less body movement than in the GLS too. What was worth noting though was that it never seems to be rocking around, like how I felt in the EQS sedan, and the suspension feels well-balanced.
A plus point of the SUV body style is that ground clearance is improved much, and we didn’t scrape the bottom even once (even without raising it) when we had to tackle some unscientific speed breakers. The EQS SUV is an all-rounder with it being reasonably fun to drive, and comfortable being driven around in.
It was the highways for which I think the EQS SUV will just revel, taking in undulations much more acceptable than any other model seems to. My first attempt at flooring it, to floor it was great – watching the needle move up the speedometer with that sort of speed was lovely! But it’s equally easy to slow down for heavy traffic and get back to cruising easily.
It is, though, the high-speed stability and general behavior of the suspension that is most noteworthy. It was rock-solid at any speed with good feedback from the steering. Coming to the corners, it holds its line well with minimal body roll, which makes you want to push it more! I did push it a bit into a couple of corners and high-speed lane changes, and it surprised me.
It’s a good vehicle to drive on open roads. We liked the car most on the state highway with instant torque and a closing gap and overtakes, and the suspension took in those rough patches without any hesitation all while being in absolute silence. Mercedes has done a splendid job with the insulation on this thing.
It was confident on the brakes once you put the regeneration into its normal setting, slowing the EQS SUV about the way one would expect and with reasonable effort. Feels a bit mushy to the touch, but one gets the hang of it reasonably quickly. However, once you cut off the regeneration, one felt that braking was a little inadequate, particularly when this hard braking was required.
The brake pedal had to be pressed a little too hard for the proper amount of braking force. It could feel a little nerve-racking at times.
So, that took away some of the enjoyment we were experiencing pushing this car on the back roads. Without regeneration, it feels a bit more lifelike to drive around, especially in town since the car will roll freely with the foot off the accelerator, but, on a normal regimen, it sometimes feels like it’s braking a bit too hard. This is probably more down to my driving style and general behavior of electric vehicles rather than the EQS itself.
Lastly, we couldn’t do much in terms of range testing. However, throughout about 180 km of driving that mostly included about 30% city, 10% highway, and approximately 60% on a single-lane state highway – with a decent amount of enthusiastic driving – the battery level had dropped by 25%. So while the real-world range may be a bit less than what Mercedes claims, we don’t think one would have range anxiety with ~550-600 km of available range.
This is a well-rounded product. Instant torque and good acceleration go along with trick suspension, which is comfortable and stable. The direct steering and predictable, flat cornering make it nice to drive. The way the road bumps are taken care of, with nice sound insulation, it’s good for being driven around in as well. This would certainly be my pick over the sedan, especially since one would not have to keep an eye out for every speed breaker.
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