Mercedes EQS: the (even) biggest battery with more than 800 kilometers of autonomy

If they represent only a small part of the market, especially in electric vehicles, large luxury sedans remain very important for premium brands. They allow Mercedes, BMW and even Audi to show their skills, and many innovations that sometimes lead to the most available models.

This segment is therefore the right of German premium brands and the latter have no intention of abandoning it with the arrival of electric vehicles. If Audi has yet to release a production version of its Grandsphere concept, Mercedes and BMW are already engaged in fierce competition in the electric limousine segment.

While Mercedes has chosen to make its EQS the complete model in its range, as an electric partner to the S-Class, BMW recently launched the i7, an electric version that shares the bodywork and platform of the new 7 Series.

EQS joins the ranks

The EQS offered a futuristic style very close to its little sister the EQE, but which was not necessarily unanimous. So Mercedes is trying to correct that situation with its mid-career overhaul, which aims to bring it back into the range. With the new Electric Art design, it uses a more conventional grille where the star of the brand moves to the hood, like the S-Class (excluding the AMG S 63 E Performance version). The front face, which needs to be restored on electric models, here imitates that of Mercedes with internal combustion engines.

For others, the exterior development is quite subtle and aims to make the EQS more elegant, at least with this Electric Art finish, especially with the new rims.

Inside, a large Hyperscreen panel that includes several screens is now presented as standard, where it was previously priced at over €8,500.

Other developments are aimed at improving finesse and comfort, especially at the back. In the absence of the Maybach version, which the EQS SUV has recently benefited from, the sedan allows you to check the Rear Comfort Pack Plus option with executive seats for € 3,900, which now includes a leg for the right passenger, who can. move the seat in front of him to make more room.

Also note that the driver, or rather the driver, will now be able to benefit from the automatic lane change function. When the level 2 autonomous driving system is activated, the car can overtake another car on the highway without the driver’s consent, at a speed of 80 to 140 km/h. “The responsibility of driving is always the driver’s”recalls Mercedes, which specifies that “Changes in route must be monitored at all times”.

The update of the Mercedes EQS is not only beautiful. The electric sedan thus sees its battery capacity increase from 108.4 to a significant 118 kWh. This is huge and allows the two-wheel drive EQS 450+ to claim up to 822 km of range.

On the other hand, EQS’s fast charging capacity with its 400 V architecture still only reaches 200 kW. That’s not much for such a large battery.

The facelifted EQS can be ordered from 25 April 2024. The good news is, despite all these improvements, Mercedes is announcing unchanged entry-level prices. The EQS currently starts at a very high €135,849.99, or more than €20,000 more than the S-Class rival BMW i7 Price from €128,500.