JOLIET, Illinois — Mercedes is the pinnacle of European luxury, and the S-class is the summit of Mercedes.
Big screens, big tech, big interior space — the S-class spares no expense to coddle its customers. For 2022, S-class offers a pair of models, the EQS 450 sedan and GLS 450, that try to capitalize on the latest trends in the U.S. luxury marketplace: electric cars and SUVs.
The EQS is a sleek showpiece of Mercedes technology with a screen the size of The Henry Ford’s IMAX theater and power delivery as smooth as water. But with limited range and two rows of seats, the $116,300 EQS indicates why EVs are a niche market compared to the market domination of three-row, gas-powered SUVs like the mighty, $94,230 GLS450.
With a big family weekend of racing, dining and sightseeing ahead in Chicago, Mrs. Payne and I loaded up the GLS 450. Stretched across a 123-inch wheelbase and measuring 17 feet long, the GLS is about the same size as its EQS EV sibling. But if I had an EQS in the garage, I would still want a GLS for road trips.
It’s not just that the Merc SUV offers a roomy third row essential for our six-person Payne family of three guys and their best gals. The GLS boasts 571 miles of highway range compared to the EQS’s 350 — and when your weekend itinerary includes a tight schedule, meeting four people at O’Hare airport and more than 800 miles of travel from Detroit to Joliet to downtown Chicago, you don’t want to be spending 30 minutes at chargers in Walmart parking lots to add 245 miles of electrons to the EQS (the EV’s 400-volt architecture can gain 70% of charge — about 245 miles — in a half hour).
The GLS? I barely gave fuel a thought — filling it only once for five minutes on the way back to Detroit on I-94.
It’s popular these days to say: “Just wait until the federal government builds out a charging infrastructure.” Regardless of your confidence that the feds can efficiently build anything, the problem with EVs is more uncertainty than charger unavailability.
Weather and speed are big variables that make long trips in EVs a nervy affair. I traveled at 80 mph to O’Hare in the GLS — a speed that would have degraded EQS’s range by 20% (if experience in Tesla, Porsche and Hyundai EVs is any guide). There was also the threat of heavy downpours — Lake Michigan’s ecosystem is always unpredictable — which can cause 40% range loss in EVs.
Anticipating such challenges, my EQS tester is designed for efficiency with one of the cleanest skins in the industry. This thing is a bar of soap.
Its 0.20 drag coefficient bests the Tesla Model S and Lucid Air, but results in diminishing the design detail of its flamboyant, gas-powered predecessors. So determined was Merc to hit its drag coefficient target that it sacrificed its frunk — robbing the Merc of a feature prized by EV buyers.
GLS is no looker either with its big, boxy three-row SUV proportions. Yeah, there’s the signature muscular rear hips and the big star logo up front. But painted black, it melted into the schools of big SUVs on the road. My wife would consistently confuse it in the hotel parking lot for a BMW or big Infiniti SUV. Ouch.
So despite carrying stiff price tags, my EQS and GLA testers were unassuming from the outside. The interiors are a different matter.
EQS sports a stunning 56-inch screen that is really three screens in one — 12.3-inch instrument display, 17.7-inch console display, and another 12.3-inch display for the passenger. The latter is a treat for occupants who want to control their own space. My son’s mother-in-law settled into a relaxing Metro Detroit journey by finding her favorite seat massage in the screen.
The GLS’s more familiar twin-dash screen can’t compete with the EQS in size and speed, but it is plenty useful as Merc has perfected a system of integrated graphics, swipe screens and steering-wheel mouse pads (yes, you read that right) so you can find just what you want in the system. The EQS also dazzled with Merc’s latest self-driving software — its lane-centering and auto-lane changing more Tesla-like than the GLS, which gave me some white hairs as I self-drove through Chicago on I-90.
Aft of the front thrones, however, the GLS was much more desirable than the EQS. The big ute not only fit my family of six comfortably for our trip into Chicago for dinner — but its second-row captain’s chairs were first-class seating, with the ability to adjust forward/back to accommodate the third-row behind.
The EQS has rear-seat options, but they weren’t on my $116K tester, which featured utilitarian bench seats with standard-issue armrest and cupholders that folded down from the seatback.
Both EQS and GLS boast more than 300 horsepower, but the EQS comes on liquid smooth as we’ve come to expect from big EVs. But like its rear seat, the EQS complicates its claim to magic carpet smoothness with a rough ride over bumps. Crossing a Telegraph Road intersection, for example, EQS would bounce along — hitting the shock bump stops. Oof.
The GLS actually adopts an EQS gauge on its instrument display — to claim the green moral high ground with a 48-volt battery on board that smooths shifts from its 9-speed transmission. And its air suspension did yeoman’s work in smoothing the two-story-tall vehicle’s ride.
Autobahn Raceway, where my sons and I were competing in Lola sports racers, doubles as an auto country club (think a golf club but with a track in the middle) and allows members and guests to take their vehicles on the track at lunch hour.
I took the GLS on track to show the extended family around the course — in line behind a pace car and a who’s who of performance cars, including a Porsche 911, CT4-V Blackwing, BMW M3 and Corvette C8.
With SPORT mode engaged and air suspension managing the elephant’s girth, I had a blast squealing the tires and stomping the accelerator pedal out of turns. It’s an elephant in tennis shoes.
It’s also an elephant that doesn’t mind burning up fuel on such spontaneous activities — because gas infrastructure is always nearby. A similar track diversion in the EQS would have sucked valuable range, which would have made for another headache as we contemplated getting home on Sunday.
Buy the EQS to show off at the country club, buy the GLS if you need an all-around workhorse.
2022 Mercedes GLS450 4Matic
Vehicle type: All-wheel drive, seven-passenger SUV
Price: $78,900, including $1,050 destination charge ($94,230 as tested)
Powerplant: 3.0-liter turbocharged inline-6 cylinder
Power: 362 horsepower, 369 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: 9-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 5.9 seconds (mfr.); towing capacity, 7,700 pounds
Weight: 5,412 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA 19 mpg city/23 highway/21 combined; Highway range, 570 miles
Report card
Highs: Seating for six, long-range utility
Lows: A gen behind EQS in some tech; boxy design
Overall: 4 stars
2022 Mercedes EQS 450+
Vehicle type: Battery-powered rear-wheel-drive, five-passenger sedan
Price: $105,450 including $1,050 destination fee ($116,304 450+ Premium as tested)
Powerplant: 107.8 kWh lithium-ion battery with rear electric-motor
Power: 329 horsepower, 417 pound-feet torque
Transmission: Single-speed direct drive
Performance: 0-60 mph, 5.8 seconds (mfr.); top speed, 130 mph
Weight: 5,597 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA 97 MPGe; range, 350 miles
Report card
Highs: Smooth ride; interior from the gods
Lows: Uninspired looks, jouncy suspension over bumps
Overall: 3 stars
____
