Tested: 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS450+ Electrifies Luxury

[ccap41]

https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a37917666/2022-mercedes-benz-eqs450-drive/

"After you've driven nearly every car for sale over the last 20 years, it's natural for the cars of the past to enter into your thoughts when driving something new. Humans compare experiences to gain perspective, which explains why we were daydreaming about Rolls-Royces while driving Mercedes-Benz's new electric luxury four-door, the EQS450+.

 

Like a Rolls-Royce Phantom, the EQS is a capsule of luxury and silence that pours itself down the road with unerring grace. Unlike a hard-to-swallow Rolls, the EQS looks like an Advil Liqui-Gel. It's a lozenge of a car with what Mercedes claims is the lowest drag coefficient—0.20—of any car on sale. That slick bod whips through the air, barely disturbing it, and leads to near silence at extra-legal highway speeds. At a more reasonable 70 mph, we recorded just 64 decibels of noise inside the cabin.

The 107.8-kWh battery sandwiched in the floor assists in keeping road noise to a minimum. That big battery also allows the EQS450+ to go an estimated 350 miles between charges, according to the EPA. Yet we were able to cover 400 miles on our 75-mph highway test, putting this Benz just behind our current long-range EV champ, the Lucid Air Grand Touring. Find a Level 3 DC hookup and the EQS can go from 10 percent charge to 80 percent in a claimed 31 minutes. On a typical Level 2 setup, the EQS takes just over 11 hours to go from 10 percent to 100 percent. ...

... Yet what really reminds us of the Spirit of Ecstasy is the suppleness and silence of the suspension as it glides over the tarmac. Not much of the outside permeates the EQS's cocoon. The long 126.4-inch wheelbase certainly helps attenuate bumps, but it's the tuning of the standard air-spring suspension that maintains the serenity despite our test car's 20-inch wheels wrapped in Goodyear summer rubber. ...

... Four-wheel steering turns the rear wheels up to 10 degrees in opposition of the fronts at low speeds, helping to shrink the turning circle to 35.7 feet, making this very big Benz feel like an A-class. There's an ease and luxury to the whole driving experience that is only interrupted by the brakes. Hitting the brakes in the EQS starts with energy regeneration from the motors and then blends in the stopping power of the four massive brake rotors. Stepping into the brake pedal is an initially mushy experience that doesn't slow the car much. Keep pushing and you reach a hard point where the pedal resists being moved farther. Press harder and the deceleration finally hits, but it takes a lot of pedal pressure to get meaningful braking, and by then you're sailing toward that burgundy Corolla at an alarming rate. Give yourself considerably more space than the 167 feet it takes to stop from 70 mph and 351 feet from 100 mph.

Using those unnatural-feeling brakes can be largely avoided by pulling twice on the right paddle behind the steering wheel. Do so and you get the maximum regeneration (what Mercedes terms Recuperation) that largely eliminates the need to touch the brake pedal and allows one to speed up and slow down in traffic by using only the accelerator. That max regen mode won't bring the car to a complete stop though. The system slows the car to about 5 mph, but the Benz then continues to creep ahead. There is an additional regen mode called Intelligent Recuperation that requires you to hold the right paddle. It utilizes the adaptive cruise-control radar and camera systems to optimize regeneration based on the surrounding traffic, the topography, and the twistiness of the road. When engaged, it'll bring the car to a stop provided the car in front of you has stopped. It certainly works, but it's not smart enough to bring the car to a halt at a stop sign or red light and will only react to whatever the vehicle ahead is doing.

Aside from this being Mercedes's first car built on its new EV platform, the other big news is the so-called Hyperscreen. The EQS450+'s optional Hyperscreen (it's standard on the EQS580) consists of three screens that are covered in a massive glass panel that spans the width of the dashboard. The three touchscreens control nearly every function in the car, from setting an interior temperature to a game of Tetris. As a new system, it takes a bit of getting used to, but after a few hours of experimentation we became comfortable with scrolling through radio stations, looking up the outside air quality, setting a destination on the native navigation system, and pairing a phone to the system. Once paired, we largely skipped Benz's system for Apple CarPlay. There is also the option of talking to the EQS. Saying "Hey, Mercedes" wakes the EQS's virtual assistant that can help with a number of controls, from setting the temperature to making a phone call. It works surprisingly well, but talking to your car always seems a little silly.

The Hyperscreen certainly looks like the future, but the instrument display in front of the driver is set high. That elevated cowl is the exact opposite of the low and simple dashboard of a Tesla Model 3 or even a Model S. The brain adjusts to it, but without an engine ahead of you, why does the cowl need to be so high?

 

We also questioned the lack of a frunk. A cabin air filter and some other ancillaries live under the fixed hood, but the EQS makes up for that deficiency with an absolutely massive amount of cargo space under the rear hatch (22 cubic feet, or enough to swallow eight carry-on suitcases). And, if that's not enough, the rear seats fold away.

There's also a lot of space in the rear seat—leg-crossing, stretch-out space. Sitting in the rear seat you realize that this car is a reimagining of the S-class. In addition to the S-class appointments, performance, technology, and space inside, the EQS comes with an S-class-like price. The least expensive EQS450+ starts at $105,450, with our test car reaching $118,395 with a host of options. Pricing for the more powerful EQS580 opens at $126,945 and escalates from there. Aside from the acceleration, the smaller-motor EQS450+ is the same luxurious experience as the more powerful sibling. If you never floor it for more than a couple of seconds, you'll never feel like you should have gone with the quicker car. The EQS450+ is just as quiet, just as refined, and just and lovely as the more expensive EQS580. So, for those who don't think every car that's next to you at a red light is competition, you'll be just fine."

I hate that they've made, what seems like a pretty awesome vehicle, but then decided to wrap it in what is possibly the most boring body they could have went with. 

The highway range is extremely impressive. I believe there are only a few EVs that actually get more highway range than their stated combined range. 

[Drew Dowdell]

I drove the EQS AMG (and took video) and it is a technological tour-de-force.... but as a car, it's kinda lame.

My goal is to get both the written and video review out this month.

[G. David Felt]

EQS while being a Tech Force of interest, I feel Mercedes failed in both Style, especially engineering use of space and more as they did have the Tesla S to use as a measuring stick. 

• No Frunk
• Mushy brakes
• Complex screen system
• Folding down the rear seats for storage space, common this is supposed to be the ultimate luxury car, I doubt the buyers are going to need or want to fold down the seats for moving stuff.

To quote the story, it is an Advil Liquid-gel of a car. Not the best description to have about your top-of-the-line luxury car.

Interesting times we are in as the auto industry brings out more and more EVs.

[smk4565]

No frunk who cares, that is really a feature nice for a pickup truck, but the EQS and every other sedan and SUV has plenty of cargo space in back.

The S580 registers 65 decibels at 70 mph from Car and Driver's test, and got 32 mpg on their highway test, with a a V8.  So that car is slippery too and doesn't look like a worn bar of soap.  

The problem with the EQS is not enough S-class.  And maybe they just wanted to do more of a concept car or take chances that they can't on the traditional, conservative S-class.  Solution is take the S-class body, put on EQS platform.

[oldshurst442]

39 minutes ago, smk4565 said:

doesn't look like a worn bar of soap.

I...beg to differ

 

 

 

 

[Drew Dowdell]

9 hours ago, smk4565 said:

No frunk who cares, that is really a feature nice for a pickup truck, but the EQS and every other sedan and SUV has plenty of cargo space in back.

The S580 registers 65 decibels at 70 mph from Car and Driver's test, and got 32 mpg on their highway test, with a a V8.  So that car is slippery too and doesn't look like a worn bar of soap.  

The problem with the EQS is not enough S-class.  And maybe they just wanted to do more of a concept car or take chances that they can't on the traditional, conservative S-class.  Solution is take the S-class body, put on EQS platform.

I could go either way on the frunk. I do see its usefulness, but not having it wouldn't be a dealbreaker for me in this car.  I agree with everything else you said though. There's no reason the EQS has to look like this and there's no reason it has to be so small inside. It feels a full class down from S in terms of space. It would make a perfectly good EQE (and the EQE would make a good EQC).  It just doesn't have that almost-a-limo quality and space that the ICE S-Class has.

It's like if Chrysler made an electric 200, slapped a 300E badge on it, and said "See! Same thing, but electric!"

[surreal1272]

9 hours ago, smk4565 said:

No frunk who cares, that is really a feature nice for a pickup truck, but the EQS and every other sedan and SUV has plenty of cargo space in back.

Umm, I'm guessing you didn't read the part about the EQS stating the smallness of the interior in an S-Class sized package. Seems to me, in this case, a frunk would be a plus, which I positive you would be touting here had they actually included one.

9 hours ago, smk4565 said:

So that car is slippery too and doesn't look like a worn bar of soap.

Way to show that fanboy card here. That is a whole other level of denial to act like its shape is anything other than a boring looking piece of worn bar soap. Just about every publication out there has stated or alluded to the same issue with the exterior of the German bar of worn soap. And don;'t give us this nonsense about drag coefficient. Hyundai gets great range out of their EVs and none of them resemble the bastard love child of a worn out bar of soap and a disinterested jellybean.

[surreal1272]

14 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

I drove the EQS AMG (and took video) and it is a technological tour-de-force.... but as a car, it's kinda lame.

My goal is to get both the written and video review out this month.

That's what I am gathering form reviews. No doubt, they went in with tech in mind and it shows and that's what is expected from a company like Mercedes. Where they did not go in, apparently, was on the visual aspect and no about of fanboy growing over it changes that fact. All this attention to the interior (too much with that hyperscreen if you ask me but to each their own) but completely dropping the ball on the exterior is simply baffling at this price range. 

[ccap41]

10 hours ago, smk4565 said:

The S580 registers 65 decibels at 70 mph from Car and Driver's test, and got 32 mpg on their highway test, with a a V8.  So that car is slippery too and doesn't look like a worn bar of soap.  

Exactly, they've done a phenomenal job of engineering the body on the S Class. 

I understand doing something different to differentiate the two but I think they...shouldn't have... The S Class has always looked great. There's no need to change the formula as much as they did.  

[ccap41]

1 hour ago, surreal1272 said:

Umm, I'm guessing you didn't read the part about the EQS stating the smallness of the interior in an S-Class sized package. Seems to me, in this case, a frunk would be a plus, which I positive you would be touting here had they actually included one.

While I would prefer a frunk, they did mention how large the trunk was so I guess it really isn't a big deal. But, I would still prefer one. I'd like a quick place to drop bags into a plastic tub and not worry about a potential mess. I can almost guarantee I'd use it more than the trunk itself. 

9 hours ago, oldshurst442 said:

I...beg to differ

He said S580, not EQS580. The S Class doesn't look like a worn bar of soap, right? 

1 hour ago, surreal1272 said:

10 hours ago, smk4565 said:

So that car is slippery too and doesn't look like a worn bar of soap.

Way to show that fanboy card here. That is a whole other level of denial to act like its shape is anything other than a boring looking piece of worn bar soap.

Like I said to @oldshurst442, smk said S580, not EQS580. 

He was comparing the not-bar-of-soap S Class's slipperiness to the EQS's bar-of-soap sliperiness. 

[oldshurst442]

41 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

He said S580, not EQS580. The S Class doesn't look like a worn bar of soap, right? 

True...

But there is the funny little thing I did and showcase an evolution of various E Class generations starting with the first one as a new bar of soap and through the generations unto the "S" Class EV evolving into used bar of soaps.   

The funniest of all, is that the EQS's roof line MATCHES that used bar of soap.  

My post was never meant to discredit him.

My post was to make fun of the EQS's inspiration of used bar of soaps.  

 

Noticed I didnt address him on anything other than just showcase used bar of soaps and E Class Mercedes cars over the years?  

Nothing more, nothing less.     

[oldshurst442]

And mind you, the S Class works JUST as good...

 

So...moot point. Right?

[ccap41]

37 minutes ago, oldshurst442 said:

And mind you, the S Class works JUST as good...

 

So...moot point. Right?

Rooflines are probably almost identical. It's EVERYTHING in front of the damn windshield that's awful on the EQS### and what transforms the whole vehicle into a used bar of soap as opposed to just the roofline. 

[surreal1272]

1 hour ago, ccap41 said:

Like I said to @oldshurst442, smk said S580, not EQS580. 

He was comparing the not-bar-of-soap S Class's slipperiness to the EQS's bar-of-soap sliperiness. 

My error but I’m still not far off of the overall look. Still looks “soapish” lol. Glad you were there to speak for SMK though lol. 

[ccap41]

13 minutes ago, surreal1272 said:

My error but I’m still not far off of the overall look. Still looks “soapish” lol. Glad you were there to speak for SMK though lol. 

Hahaha I could tell you accidently overlooked two letters in their garbage alphanumeric naming scheme.. 

Speaking of which, the fact that they're naming the SUV and sedan both EQS is awful. They're literally "EQS### Sedan" and "EQS### SUV". WTF Mercedes?!? 

[oldshurst442]

49 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

Rooflines are probably almost identical. It's EVERYTHING in front of the damn windshield that's awful on the EQS### and what transforms the whole vehicle into a used bar of soap as opposed to just the roofline. 

Quite honestly, the EQS (whatever number), the one that I posted to make fun of, doesnt really look all that bad. I dont have a problem with it, really.  Its just that its design language is from the 1990s.  A design language that is 30 years old.   That would be my beef with it. Not because it looks like a used bar of soap.  ALL cars from the 1990s look like a used bar of soap.  And some cars of today too.  

[surreal1272]

1 hour ago, ccap41 said:

Hahaha I could tell you accidently overlooked two letters in their garbage alphanumeric naming scheme.. 

Speaking of which, the fact that they're naming the SUV and sedan both EQS is awful. They're literally "EQS### Sedan" and "EQS### SUV". WTF Mercedes?!? 

Exactly. Easy to confuse the two when the Best or Nothing chose “nothing” as far as efforts to give these truly distinguishable names from their ICE counterparts. Strange how that is never brought up by the same folks who deride Cadillac for their naming schemes. 

[Drew Dowdell]

4 hours ago, ccap41 said:

Exactly, they've done a phenomenal job of engineering the body on the S Class. 

I understand doing something different to differentiate the two but I think they...shouldn't have... The S Class has always looked great. There's no need to change the formula as much as they did.  

If @smk4565 is to be believed, the S-Class is the end-all-be-all car. Need a luxury sedan? Get an S-Class. Been in some hard times and looking at a Corolla? Get a used S-Class. Single mother working three jobs? Get an S-Class.

Now, I'm teasing him a bit of course, but in that $110k - $130k range, he's right. There really is no other choice. Are there better choices at lower price points? Sure. But if you're in the market for a full-size Panzer tank that is safe, swift, silent, and sumptuous for a $1,500/m lease payment, are you really going to go to Lexus or Genesis?

And the point I'm agreeing with him and you on is that they should have sculpted the EQS to look exactly like the S-Class. Do a fancy light up matrix grille or something to differentiate it... I'm sure the people in Stuttgart could come up with something.

[Drew Dowdell]

2 hours ago, ccap41 said:

Hahaha I could tell you accidently overlooked two letters in their garbage alphanumeric naming scheme.. 

Speaking of which, the fact that they're naming the SUV and sedan both EQS is awful. They're literally "EQS### Sedan" and "EQS### SUV". WTF Mercedes?!? 

They're going to get into even more trouble when they get to the As and Cs and they still have one more S to cover potentially.  Would an EQA Sedan be the A-Class or CLA-Class? Then there's the GLA and then the G-Glass which I guess could be EQG? Also CLS (which I don't actually expect to survive... shame, because its one of my favorite Benzes).

[smk4565]

2 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

If @smk4565 is to be believed, the S-Class is the end-all-be-all car. Need a luxury sedan? Get an S-Class. Been in some hard times and looking at a Corolla? Get a used S-Class. Single mother working three jobs? Get an S-Class.

Now, I'm teasing him a bit of course, but in that $110k - $130k range, he's right. There really is no other choice. Are there better choices at lower price points? Sure. But if you're in the market for a full-size Panzer tank that is safe, swift, silent, and sumptuous for a $1,500/m lease payment, are you really going to go to Lexus or Genesis?

And the point I'm agreeing with him and you on is that they should have sculpted the EQS to look exactly like the S-Class. Do a fancy light up matrix grille or something to differentiate it... I'm sure the people in Stuttgart could come up with something.

The S-class has been the best car in the world for 40-50 years at this point.

Yes it is big and expensive and you can get 80% the cat in an E-Class or Lexus but if you want the best, it’s the S-class.  
 

Why they departed so much from what has widely been considered the best car for decades makes no sense.  Other than to just be different or go out on a limb which is rather un-German of them.

[surreal1272]

28 minutes ago, smk4565 said:

The S-class has been the best car in the world for 40-50 years at this point.

According to whom?

[smk4565]

31 minutes ago, surreal1272 said:

According to whom?

All automotive media.

[G. David Felt]

Well according to this story, seems the Chinese have surpassed the Mercedes EVs for the slipperiest in the world now and looks way better.

There Is A New Battle Waging Among EV Automakers (topspeed.com)

Clearly has a Tesla copied look but way cooler doors.

6 minutes ago, smk4565 said:

All automotive media.

Links please as I have sure not found them today.

[surreal1272]

48 minutes ago, smk4565 said:

All automotive media.

That is not proof unless you want to start providing that long list of media that believes this. Remember to cover the last 40-50 years. Don’t worry though. I’ll help you. Let’s start here, shall we? Mercedes is not the best luxury car on this particular list so I guess it’s not “all automotive media”. Maybe next time, lay off the fan laden superlatives that are easily debunked. 
 

https://www.globalbrandsmagazine.com/top-9-most-luxury-cars-in-the-world/

 

And here’s one from another automotive media source. I can’t really make that out though. Who is rated above the S-Class here?

 

 

Edited January 5, 2023 by surreal1272

[smk4565]

It's the best car in the world, in 2023 becomes the first car in the US to have level 3 autonomy as it just got regulatory approval.  The S-class is the gold standard, it is the car all other luxury cars are compared to, it is what other brands try to copy. 

[G. David Felt]

9 minutes ago, smk4565 said:

It's the best car in the world, in 2023 becomes the first car in the US to have level 3 autonomy as it just got regulatory approval.  The S-class is the gold standard, it is the car all other luxury cars are compared to, it is what other brands try to copy. 

Nope not the best car in the world, NO PROOF PROVIDED YET other than your Fanboy saying. Gold Standard is also subjective as that is you saying it, not the world.

Please provide that Country Regulatory approval as right now only 2 state has approved it, Nevada and California.

Mercedes Level 3 autonomy gets approval in Nevada | Automotive News (autonews.com)

Mercedes Introducing Level 3 Autonomous Driving in California and Nevada - The Detroit Bureau

And even then, it has stipulations. 

QUOTE: Drive Pilot currently is focused on use during relatively low-speed commutes — up to 60 kmh, or 37 mph. But Mercedes officials told TheDetroitBureau.com during a test drive of the system they hope to allow it to operate at higher speeds as they gather more data and gain more confidence.

[surreal1272]

14 minutes ago, smk4565 said:

It's the best car in the world, in 2023 becomes the first car in the US to have level 3 autonomy as it just got regulatory approval.  The S-class is the gold standard, it is the car all other luxury cars are compared to, it is what other brands try to copy. 

No and nope. No bar moving allowed here. You said ALL MEDIA feel this way without providing even one source of this. Meanwhile, I provided not one, but two sources that DO NOT have the S-Class as the best. I don't care about your personal opinion on it. No one here is surprised by your assertion that it is the best. However, that's not what you said above so stop moving the damn bar and just accept that not all believe as you do, including much more qualified automotive media folks.

SMK-"The S-Class is the best luxury car in the world, the gold standard."

 

(Rolls Royce after reading this)

Edited January 6, 2023 by surreal1272

[Drew Dowdell]

1 hour ago, smk4565 said:

It's the best car in the world, in 2023 becomes the first car in the US to have level 3 autonomy as it just got regulatory approval.  The S-class is the gold standard, it is the car all other luxury cars are compared to, it is what other brands try to copy. 

Quote from the MB press release on this:

"DRIVE PILOT can offer to take over the driving, initially up to the legally permitted speed of 60 km/h"

That's 37.2823 mph for those of us in the states. There are suburban roads around here that you'll get run over doing that speed... and that's with the slow-ass Pittsburgh drivers.

SuperCruise can run at 80 mph+.

GM's UltraCruise can run at 80 mph+ but also:

• Provide users with information based on their experience with the system through an all-new dynamic display
• React to permanent traffic control devices
• Follow internal navigation routes
• Maintain headway; follow speed limits
• Support automatic and on-demand lane change
• Support left and right-hand turns
• Support close object avoidance
• Support parking in residential driveways

The first vehicles getting will be higher end Cadillacs and the top trims of the big SUVs.

[smk4565]

49 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

Quote from the MB press release on this:

"DRIVE PILOT can offer to take over the driving, initially up to the legally permitted speed of 60 km/h"

That's 37.2823 mph for those of us in the states. There are suburban roads around here that you'll get run over doing that speed... and that's with the slow-ass Pittsburgh drivers.

SuperCruise can run at 80 mph+.

GM's UltraCruise can run at 80 mph+ but also:

• Provide users with information based on their experience with the system through an all-new dynamic display
• React to permanent traffic control devices
• Follow internal navigation routes
• Maintain headway; follow speed limits
• Support automatic and on-demand lane change
• Support left and right-hand turns
• Support close object avoidance
• Support parking in residential driveways

The first vehicles getting will be higher end Cadillacs and the top trims of the big SUVs.

You have to keep eyes on the road with Super Cruise, with Drive Pilot you don't, you can do other tasks.  Drive Pilot is the only level 3 system in the world.  And I think the 60 kph limit is more a liability thing, not the system limits, that I suspect goes up in time.

Ultra Cruise is still Level 2, it isn't even here yet, already outdated competed to the S-class before it arrives.   

[Drew Dowdell]

40 minutes ago, smk4565 said:

You have to keep eyes on the road with Super Cruise, with Drive Pilot you don't, you can do other tasks.  Drive Pilot is the only level 3 system in the world.  And I think the 60 kph limit is more a liability thing, not the system limits, that I suspect goes up in time.

Ultra Cruise is still Level 2, it isn't even here yet, already outdated competed to the S-class before it arrives.   

SuperCruise you only have to watch the road for liability reasons. Cadillac has stated a while ago that they have the technological capability for Level 3, but they have concerns regarding liability.  The requirement that you pay attention is why you don’t hear about Cadillacs plowing into a semi-truck because the driver was watching Lord of the Rings like you do with Tesla.

This is one area where being first isn’t necessarily the best thing. I don’t mind GM taking it slow. 

BTW, GM Cruise has been on the road for over a year now, so your assertion that Benz did it first is false. 

Furthermore, calling Benz’s system Level 3, but only up to 37 mph means it’s not really Level 3.  UltraCruise isn’t considered Level 3 because the driver has to take over in situations like a roundabout… so how can Benz be Level 3 if it can’t go over 37 mph?

As long as there are no roundabouts on your trip, UltraCruise is door to door at all legal speeds. That’s far more useful than what the S-Class does.