Mercedes EQS review: A five-star  electric performer

A few short weeks ago in these columns, we lauded the BMW i4 as being in the vanguard of the breakthrough electric generation. This week we try the daddy of them all – thus far at least – the Mercedes EQS. And what a car it is.

We all know the Mercedes S-Class – derived from the German ‘Sonderklasse,’ which means ‘special class’ – to have been with us in various guises for fifty years this year, representing the best in terms of design, technology, equipment and engines that the Stuttgart giant can possibly make.

The S-Class has therefore been the required wheels for presidents, prime ministers, pontiffs, prelates and portly people with deep pockets (if you’ll excuse the attempted alliteration) for five decades and is the best-selling luxury sedan in the world. And, if the evidence of the latest one is anything to go by, it is still the high watermark for the rest to try and attain.

Down the years, the S-Class has debuted many of the high-tech innovations Mercedes has come up with and, as such has been a technological standard bearer for the marque.

But recently, with the public appetite for ICE powerplants on the wane as the world tries to reform its bad habits and stop wrecking the planet, Mercedes – along with every other car manufacturer on the planet – has been faced with trying to replace the established order with clean alternatives.

As we know, the electric motor has been adopted by most as the most cost-effective and clean solution to this problem, but for Mercedes and those within the company charged with keeping the car at the top of the pile in the luxury department, this has presented particular difficulties.

As it marches into the new world of electric cars, Mercedes adopted the ‘EQ’ nomenclature to herald in its new breed of beast. We’ve already seen a fistful of them and pretty damn good they are too as Mercedes has, unlike some others, refused to dilute technical and mechanical standards at the altar of the Green God.

Problems with refinement, range and power delivery have challenged the design engineers, but the Mercedes people have definitely risen to it – and with the challenge of making an electric S-Class, they have been working hard.

Instead of depending on in-house expertise, Mercedes has cast its net far and wide to come up with the necessary talent to create this car, the EQS. And the result of their endeavours is what we drive this week.

While many of the other electrics Mercedes has made, the transition from ICE to electric has been achieved without resort to building expensive new platforms upon which to build them. They have simply transplanted the electrical gubbins into the old ICE cars and driven on from there.

This one is different. It has a brand-new platform, which will be the basis for all the new electrics coming out of Stuttgart. The car is built on what is called the MEA platform and it will be electric-specific and used on many of the future EVs the company will make.

In terms of the electric motor Mercedes worked with a Valeo/Siemens project team to come up with the powertrain which, in this case sees the EQS 450+ model we tested powered by a water-cooled electric synchronous motor and it sends power to the wheels via a single speed reduction gearbox. There is also an AMG version – the EQS 53 4Matic+ which has 751 bhp on tap.

But the net result here is a power output of 333 bhp, a 0-100 km/h time of 6.2 seconds (which is impressive for a vehicle with a kerb weight of 2,480 kg, or two-and-a-half tonnes) and a top speed of 210 km/h.

Now, that is all very run of the mill really for an electric, but here it gets better – way better. The range, always the single most contentious element of an electric and the one which has engaged manufacturers most, is a claimed 785 km.

That in itself is all very well, but as was ever the case with petrols and diesels, manufacturers were prone to telling porkies when it came to consumption. So too the electric era where car makers are as prone as ever to upselling the capabilities of their EVs. The initial claim from Unterturkheim was as above, but the official range quoted by the Irish distributors is 717km.

Having driven it, I would cast the actual range estimate at around the 690 km mark, but in the world in which we live, that is an astonishing figure. Most of these things will give you around 450 km at best, so when you’ve got the ability to travel undisturbed pretty much anywhere you want. In an electric, I mean, really?

Not alone will this thing take you for far longer distances than you could possibly have imagined, thanks to a battery pack the size of a substantial power station, but it will infotain you thanks to a touchscreen the size of a Cinerama screen and also boasts more artificial intelligence than your average government minister.

The details of this car could be discussed for months on end but let me just give you a taste of what goes on here. First up there’s the doors: there’s not just pop-out door handles here; the doors pop out too. The drivers’ door pops open as you approach and, when you settle into the extraordinarily comfortable drivers’ seat and step on the brake pedal, they close again.

Then there’s the number of sensors – some 350 apparently – which allow everything from allowing autopilot on busy highways to a system which constantly monitors and advises on where you can stop for an electricity top-up. Just don’t expect it to work in Kinnegad.

But honestly, this thing is gobsmacking and the usual week you get to familiarize yourself with a vehicle was nowhere long enough to get to the bottom of this thing. Indeed, I suspect that when people come to sell them in a few years’ time, they will still not have mastered all that’s on offer here.

This is truly Star Trek stuff, only more advanced. For God’s sake, you even get a choice of powertrain soundtracks. I recommend the ‘sliver waves’ version – very calming.

On the road the car is very like a car and it was pleasing, after trying so many high-roller electric SUVs to actually get car-like behaviour from, well, a car. This thing demonstrated – for such a big luxobarge – commendable prowess and sticking power.

Rear wheel steering helps with agility, which is not a given in something this big and the air suspension eases out the vagaries of the Irish road network with impressive aplomb. In terms of comfort, this car is evidently Premier quality.

It is very easy to run out of words here – and I’m in danger of doing so – simply because of the technical excellence of the EQS and the evident desire within Mercedes to make this the absolutely best electric luxury car they could make.

That determination has paid off in spades and I defy anyone – and especially any true petrol head with four-star fuel in their veins – to find fault here. Sure it’s not especially quick – at least not as fast as certain Teslas – but this thing so obviously has regal blood, nothing Elon Musk can come up with will ever come close.

We praised the new S-Class when it came out as being the King of the Hill and it still is – in the ICE-powered field. This thing, on the other hand is the daddy of electrics and I suspect it will be some time before anything comes close. A nailed-on five-star performer, then.