Mercedes has revealed its new flagship electric SUV, the EQS. Up against rivals Tesla Model Y and BMW’s iX will have no engine or gearbox taking up space in the chassis. The engineers have pushed the windscreen towards the front wheels to increase cabin space compared with its combustion-engined GLS SUV. It will also come as a seven seater as well as the standard five seat arrangement.
Inside, the EQS SUV has the same 55.5-inch Hyperscreen infotainment system as the EQS saloon. The system uses a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, a 17.7-inch central touchscreen and a third 12.3-inch unit for the passenger. There’s also thesame seats, steering wheel, split-opening central armrest as the saloon. The ‘MBUX High-End Rear Seat Entertainment Plus package’ looks to be a real luxury addition with a pair of 11.6-inch displays mounted on the front seatbacks.
Powertrains will also be similar to the EQS saloon starting with the 450+ featuring a single electric motor mounted on the rear axle. Around 536-660 km are the provisional range figures of the EQS 450+ (WLTP: Combined power consumption: 23.0‑18.6 kWh/100 km; combined CO2 emissions: 0 g/km).We expect the SUV’s less aerodynamic shape will make a dent in that figure, but a range of at least 600 kms will be possible.
The electric motor on the rear axle has 2 windings with 3 phases each. The 6-phase design makes this permanently excited synchronous motor (PSM) particularly powerful. Its peak power is 265 kW.
The EQS SUV adopts Mercedes’ Level 3 autonomous driving technology, which allows the car to drive itself with limited driver supervision at speeds up to 50 km/h when in slow-moving motorway traffic. Head-up displays are available in two sizes as an option. The Augmented Reality Head-up Display shows relevant information and actions three-dimensionally in the real driving situation and surroundings. Its display area has a diagonal of 77 inches. A virtual colour image seems to float in the field of vision at a distance of about 10 metres.
