I’ve driven some very nice cars as part of this job, but last week was my first time behind the wheel of a Mercedes Benz — specifically, the fully electric 2022 Mercedes EQS 580 4Matic sedan.
The EQS, the first electric luxury sedan from Mercedes, is the electric version of the luxury S-Class.
Mercedes brought its EQS models to town for a test drive experience at the Dallas Galleria.
The EQS has two models, the 580 4Matic (starting at $119,110) and the 450+ (starting at $102,310). The cars share some features, such as the exterior design and battery. I drove the 580 4Matic (all-wheel drive), which has two electric motors (one for each axle). The 450 has only one motor powering the rear wheels.
You can expect to see electric versions of more Mercedes cars and sport utility vehicles in the future, including the B-Class SUV and E-Class midsized sedan later in 2022.
Nice and quiet
I’ve ridden in several different Mercedes vehicles in the past (I have some friends with very nice cars), and they live up to their reputation for being extremely well-built and quiet on the road.
The EQS certainly carries on that tradition, but the electric motors make the experience even quieter.
As I was sitting in the 580 with the Mercedes representative, we talked so long that the car powered off, which I hadn’t really noticed. She instructed me to depress the brake pedal and press the start button, and I expected to hear something, but instead it was just silence. All I noticed was the dashboard view changing.
EQS 580 4Matic
The first thing I noticed about the 580 was the automatic driver’s door. Approach the car (with the key fob) and the driver’s door opens without your having to touch it at all.
Once you’re in the car, a wave of your hand closes the door.
The interior is dominated by the Hyperscreen, a 56-inch piece of curved Gorilla Glass running the full length of the dash and covering three separate OLED screens, including one just for the front passenger.
The passenger can control nondriving functions of the car such as climate control, navigation, entertainment and seat position.
The 580 can go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 4.1 seconds, and it has 516 horsepower and 631 pound-feet of torque (from the two engines combined).
It has a single-speed automatic transmission and a 107 kilowatt-hour battery that has an EPA estimated range of 340 miles per charge. The Mercedes rep said you might get up to 70 more miles depending on how you drive, so your actual range could be a bit more than 400 miles on a charge if you don’t have a heavy foot.
Like other electric cars I’ve tested, the EQS has regenerative braking, which kicks in when you’re braking to generate electricity.
There are different regeneration modes, including one that allows for one-pedal driving, which is a strange concept but one I really like.
You accelerate as usual, but when you let your foot off the accelerator pedal, the car starts slowing down until it eventually stops. With one-pedal driving, you don’t use the brake pedal unless you need to stop in a hurry. One-pedal driving is amazing when you’re caught in heavy traffic.
I only got to spend about 15 minutes behind the wheel, so this isn’t an in-depth review.
Charging
Battery charging for the EQS can be slow or fast, depending on the amount of electricity you are providing.
At home, you’re going to want to install a 240-volt AC charger that will charge the EQS from 10% to 100% in 11.25 hours.
The great part of owning an electric car with a home charger is that you can leave the house each day with a full battery. The car can also handle DC Fast Charging (480 volts) that will drop that charge time down to 31 minutes. DC fast chargers are usually found at public charging stations or even offices or malls.
Imagine if your gas-powered car’s tank were full every morning — you’d likely never run out of gas during any one day unless you were taking a road trip.
Speaking of road trips, the EQS’ navigation system with electric intelligence can plan your trips, showing you the charging stations along the way and estimating how long it will take to get to your destination, including charge time.
If you’re searching for a local charging station, the car can show you the chargers nearby and even tell you whether there are open chargers available.
In the event of a battery problem, the battery is made up of a dozen smaller battery packs, which makes it faster, cheaper and easier to swap out only the pack that needs attention.
Technology
The 580′s Hyperscreen is the largest screen in any Mercedes vehicle. The technology running the screen is called MBUX (Mercedes Benz User Experience).
The three OLED screens can control your phone, navigation, entertainment, energy management and seats.
The screens have a “zero layer” concept where there are no sub-menus. When you press a button to make an adjustment, every option will be on one screen. You won’t get lost in sub-menu purgatory.
The EQS has 10-degree rear axle steering, which turns the rear wheels in the opposite direction of the front wheels to make a tighter turning radius.
The EQS can’t drive itself (yet), but it does include driver assistance features such as:
Active distance assist, which keeps you a safe distance from upcoming cars during cruise control driving.
Active emergency stop assist (the car will stop by itself if it senses you are not paying attention to the road).
Evasive steering assist, which means the car will steer around to avoid objects in the road.
Active brake assist with cross-traffic function, which will keep you from pulling out when obstacles are detected.
Exit warning assist, which tells you if you’re about to drive into oncoming traffic.
Active lane keeping and active lane change assist, which can keep you centered in your lane or check for other cars in your blind spots when you want to change lanes.
An optional virtual reality head-up display can show you animated routing information projected onto the windshield as you drive.
The EQS has the longest list of standard and optional features I’ve ever seen.
Convenience and comfort
Mercedes has its own voice assistant (think Alexa). You can press a button on the steering wheel or just say, “Hey, Mercedes,” followed by a command, and you’ll get an almost instant response.
You can have the car make a phone call, read your text messages, navigate home, get the current temperature or even get a restaurant recommendation.
The voice system can also control features of the car, like setting the climate control temperature, changing the interior ambient lighting color, turning on the ventilated or heated seats, changing the radio station and tons more.
No frunk
You may have heard the term “frunk,” or front trunk, which is the storage area in an electric car under the hood where the gas engine would be. Some electric vehicles give the owner a good amount of storage in the frunk.
The EQS models do not have a frunk. In fact, the owner can’t open the hood — that’s reserved for Mercedes service technicians. When I asked what took up all the room under the hood, I was told it was the drivetrain. The only interaction owners have with the goings-on under the hood is a swing-out reservoir on the driver’s side fender where you can add washer fluid for your windshield wipers.
The EQS does give the owner a good bit of storage in the back, which is a hatchback instead of a traditional trunk.
Aside from having only one motor, the 450 also differs from the 580 in that there is no Hyperscreen available. There is still a screen behind the steering wheel for the dash display and a large center screen, but they are not behind one large piece of Gorilla Glass like the 580, and there is no screen in front of the passenger seat.
You can check the other differences on Mercedes’ EQS web page.
Conclusions
I like the shape of the EQS. It is designed to have very little drag — it moves through the air with a minimum of disruption to increase efficiency. Some reviewers have remarked that it looks too “blob-like.” I disagree.
For the price, the EQS’ closest competition comes from the high-end Tesla Model S Plaid.
The specs of the EQS say the sedan’s top speed is 130 miles per hour. The Tesla Plaid has been clocked up to 170 mph. The Plaid has twice the horsepower, but I don’t think that matters.
Mercedes is targeting the comfort and luxury market, not the “blow your doors off” sports car buyer who’s shopping for the Tesla.
I’m going to have to win the lottery to be able to afford either car, but if I had to pick, the EQS would be my choice. Mercedes has a great reputation and I think its dealer network and attention to detail make the EQS a better car to own long-term.
We don’t spend our days driving with our foot to the floor at speeds above 100 mph.
Give me refinement any day.
Pros: Unmatched build quality, Hyperscreen, oozes luxury.
Cons: No frunk.
Bottom line: If you can afford an S-Class, I’d pick the EQS and enjoy never visiting a gas station again.
