Author: Chang Yan

I always tell my colleagues that writing an article is telling a story.

Making a car is also telling a story, and of course, selling a car is no exception.

We are all storytellers.

The car owner needs a Mercedes-Benz with a story;

Mercedes-Benz needs cars with stories;

And when you come together, another story is born.

The car owner needs a Mercedes-Benz with a story

In 2021, people finally accepted a 1.5 million yuan electric car.

By acceptance, it means that people have started to believe that this decision is a normal and rational universal choice, rather than the extravagant fireworks of the nouveau riche.

From an idealistic perspective, everyone has rationally recognized that electric cars have extremely high practicality and inherent and irresistible advantages in areas such as NVH; from a materialistic perspective, almost all luxury brands have set their own roadmap for pure electric brands. And even the companies that are the first to pick fruits sell more pure electric vehicles than their own gasoline vehicles every month.

So, at the end of 2021, we suddenly discovered that the pure electric car purchase and evaluation principles that have been passed down for many years are no longer applicable.

Previously, due to the very few SKU of electric vehicles and many people not having a clear purchase purpose, a large number of pure electric vehicle consumers either have no budget to buy – almost all electric vehicles are viewed, or buy only within their budget – sedans, SUVs are all okay.

This phenomenon is unimaginable in the gasoline vehicle market. For example, even if the budget is similar, a user who buys a Mercedes-Maybach S-Class car will not consider Porsche 911 as a competitor.

There will definitely be two important signs of the mainstreaming of pure electric vehicles: First, the definition of vehicle models becomes extremely refined; second, the selling prices of vehicle models become more diverse.

There is a point worth pondering. In the previous Mercedes-Benz promotion, they always said “EQS is EQS, not the electric product of the S-Class”. Logic at that time must have hoped to emphasize the uniqueness and originality of the car’s technology. But at today’s press conference, the most talked-about sentence was “This is the way the S-Class should look in electric vehicles.”

Mercedes-Benz has also realized that among electric vehicle users, there are still some who pursue extreme luxury and quality. What they need is a vehicle that is positioned precisely in the S-Class segment among all electric vehicles.

This is the essence of the EQS experience for this group of users, and it also explains in the simplest and most straightforward manner why the car is so expensive and why it can be sold at such a high price.

I posted a lot of discussions about the EQS on Weibo today, and what puzzled me the most was that many people asked why they should spend so much money on the EQS instead of buying a Model S or a Taycan.

In fact, these are all great cars and all worth millions, but it all depends on whether you need intelligence, luxury, or sportiness.

Behind this, however, there are two layers of doubts.

One layer is that it shows that the cognition of electric vehicle consumers towards cars is being reshuffled, and there is really no profound experience of what “luxury” means for traditional luxury.

The other layer is that it shows that for key users who are familiar with intelligent electric vehicles, there is a lack of confidence in whether Mercedes-Benz can deliver a good intelligent electric vehicle.

Mercedes-Benz needs a car with a story.

The father of cars.

The culmination of automotive technology.

A pioneer in the transformation of electric vehicles.

• But it has never had a pure electric platform car, which is really frustrating for storytellers.

The three EQ family pure electric models before this all had an ambiguous relationship with their internal combustion counterparts, making it difficult to discuss their design and body separately.

But the EQS is different. Mercedes-Benz is currently working hard to differentiate between multiple sub-brands. Before I wrote this article, I specifically searched for all EQS-related article headlines on the day, and still, everyone was using “Mercedes-Benz EQS” as the most straightforward description.

But actually, I think that EQ wants to make a detachment.

Because when Mercedes-Benz defined a pure electric vehicle from scratch, its designers and engineers knew exactly how to tell a perfect story.

From visible luxury to invisible luxury, and then to virtual luxury, each point is elaborated upon.The design of the EQS is no longer limited by fuel, and it features a curved design, front cockpit placement, and streamlined body style that not only provides high recognition but also gives this car the smallest drag coefficient among all mass-produced cars globally, with a frontal area of 2.5 square meters and a drag coefficient of 0.20, which is even smaller than the wind resistance of an 80cm-wide tile.

This car also has unique designs, such as a “Nighttime Star Array” grille with a three-dimensional star emblem and an innovative front headlight assembly connected by daytime running lights, as well as controversial aspects such as a side glass water filling port, which all generate discussion topics about its appearance.

The “invisible luxury” factors of the EQS include the three-electric configuration and the car body. The recommended menu that truly understands the needs of consumers at this level consists of a 111.8 kWh battery pack and a single-motor main three-electric layout, providing both sufficient acceleration and extremely abundant support for endurance. For high-end business users, it goes without saying that they would prefer 3-second acceleration and 800km endurance.

The rear-wheel steering that is prominently featured at the press conference with up to 10 degrees of rotation represents the car’s comprehensive mechanical structure and vehicle configuration. When a car reaches this level of positioning, other basic configurations become less meaningful.

Similarly, the seat massage lens that was repeatedly highlighted during the press conference and the sound of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra wafting through the car portrayed the other invisible luxuries of this car. The names of the comfortable functions, such as “Woodland Peace,” “Ocean Sound,” and “Summer Rain,” can help you imagine the comprehensive sensory experience of the car.

Even the interior and intelligence aspects have more room for development due to the brand new all-electric design. This car has the world’s largest irregular ultra-wide car screen, with the MBUX Super Screen’s curved glass screen nearly spanning the two A-pillars, and three screens that are integrated under the same glass cover, visually merging into one.

Various sensors scattered throughout the car give these technological configurations a sense of autonomy, intelligence, and humanity.

These details make up the story of the EQS.

The Story of Buying a CarI don’t want to talk too much about vehicle details in this article, not because the EQS has already been unveiled for some time, or because our hands-on test drive video will be online soon. It’s because, we’ve actually bought one at a supercharging station.

This means that we will have more opportunities to introduce and share this car in depth and for a long time in the future, without impulsiveness.

But the story of buying this car is even more interesting, and is actually related to the previous two paragraphs.

Personally, my partner’s senior, who has been driving luxury cars of the D class his whole life, still hopes to have a car model that matches his size, workmanship, and configuration habits, and, of course, because he supports our work, he also hopes it’s a pure electric one.

Publicly, we believe that if one is considered an open-minded explorer pursuing cutting-edge technological experiences, he or she cannot remain stagnant, and must experience all extreme benchmarks, so as to make a fair and objective evaluation of vehicles.

How can one evaluate whether a 500,000 CNY car is truly luxurious without experiencing the materials and craftsmanship of a million-dollar luxury car?

However, the process of placing the order reveals the difficulties for traditional automakers to transform.

We thought that a digital luxury car themed “For You, the World” like this would directly adopt the most advanced digital sales methods, but after watching the live broadcast on the EQ mini program, we found out that the program did not have ordering options after the launch ended.

Half an hour later, specific configurations were available, but online ordering was still unavailable, and the consultation results were laughable: after an hour, the “one-on-one exclusive customer service” told me to “consult the offline dealer”.

This implies significant time costs and inherent opacity.

As a result, my partner placed the order for the EQS at the EQ Experience Store in Wangfujing, while I flew from Beijing to Shanghai in the meantime.

In the order form he sent to me, the model of the EQS was not even ready in the system, and various configurations were still uncertain, and the few strokes with a pen used to cross out “EQC” and write “EQS” were particularly eye-catching.# Markdown for EQS by Numbers

For a luxury product, this level of digital experience is still very immature compared to the new forces.

Perhaps the story of this order form will really be recorded in history.

Because, history is really beginning to change.

This is a greater story.

After writing three thousand words, I realized that I didn’t write much about EQS. If you still don’t know, please read the following numbers section. Goodnight.

EQS by Numbers

• The new EQS CLTC’s comprehensive working condition cruising range can reach up to 849 kilometers.

• The new EQS has undergone thousands of wind tunnel simulations, each calculation using 700 Central Processing Units (CPUs). As a result, the drag coefficient of the new EQS is as low as 0.20, making it the world’s lowest drag coefficient production model. The wind-facing area of the front face is 2.51 square meters, with an effective air resistance area of only 0.5 square meters.

• More than 40 new inventions and 20 design patents are integrated into the new EQS.

• The MBUX hyperscreen seamlessly integrates 3 screens (12.3+17.7+12.3 inches) to form a curved screen belt up to 1.41 meters wide. The perceived area of the passenger is as high as 2,432.11 square centimeters.

• The MBUX hyperscreen is paired with the latest “Zero-Layer Concept,” and customers only need to swipe the 0-level menu.

• The total power range of the new EQS reaches 380 kW, and the eATS electric drive system can perform 10,000 calculations per minute for wheel power and adjust intelligently.

• As part of the “clean air shield,” the volume of the HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filter system is 9.82 cubic decimeters, making it difficult for particles of various sizes to escape. Approximately 600 grams of activated carbon are used to filter out sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and odors, with an adsorption area equivalent to about 150 football fields.

• Daily 110 kW DC fast charging can replenish the battery from 10% to 80% in 48 minutes. Under specific charging power conditions (based on high-power DC fast charging stations with liquid-cooled devices, charging power can reach 145 kW), the battery can be charged from 10% to 80% in as little as 37 minutes.

• Depending on the configuration, the new EQS has up to 350 sensors, including a laser radar (to be equipped in the future), a long-distance millimeter-wave radar, four corner radars, twelve parking ultrasonic sensors, a front stereoscopic multifunction camera and four 360° parking cameras.- The brand-new EQS features a maximum rear-wheel steering angle of up to 10 degrees, which enables a turning diameter of 10.9 meters.

• The “three-stripe” shooting star digital headlamp beam is refracted and guided by 1.3 million micro-mirrors, and the resolution of the vehicle’s lighting system exceeds 2.6 million pixels.

• The large glass cover on the MBUX Hyperscreen is three-dimensionally curved using a thermoforming process at a high temperature of 650°C, and is coated with three layers that are scratch-resistant, corrosion-resistant, and anti-reflective.

• The MBUX Hyperscreen is composed of 3,147 components, has undergone up to 96 standard tests, and has been subjected to extreme temperature tests ranging from minus 40 degrees Celsius to positive 85 degrees Celsius in the Sindelfingen laboratory. After five years of refinement, it is finally presented.

• With two default customizable simulated engine sounds that can be dynamically adjusted based on up to 12 parameters, such as accelerator pedal angle, vehicle speed or energy recovery intensity, drive mode, etc.

• The brand-new EQS features a tailor-made exclusive fragrance called “No. 6 Flax Mood”, with the number 6 in its name dating back to 1906, which is the year when Mercedes launched its first electric car, the “Mercédès Electrique”.

• The brand-new EQS can be equipped with an even larger central OLED screen that has a display area equivalent to a screen with a diagonal length of up to 77 inches, made up of a high-resolution matrix consisting of 1.3 million independent reflecting mirrors.

• The Burmester® Berliner Sound Surround Sound System consists of 15 speakers and has a total output power of 710 watts.

• The MBUX intelligent human-machine interaction system is equipped with 8-core CPU, 24GB of RAM, and memory bandwidth of up to 46.4GB per second.

• Up to seven personal accounts can be stored, and exclusive personalized display content and services can be created.

• The “Mind Reading Voice Assistant” supports natural language understanding and can detect up to 27 languages.

• Production factory 56, where the brand-new EQS is made, has a roof covered with 12,000 photovoltaic modules, with a peak total power of about 5,000 kilowatts, which can meet about 30% of the factory’s energy demand every year. The roof area has a green coverage rate of up to 40%, and the headquarters building is built with recycled concrete. The energy demand is 25% lower than that of other assembly plants.

• The components of the brand-new EQS are made of recycled and renewable materials, and the weight of recycled materials amounts to 82.3 kilograms. The floor coverings are made of synthetic yarns made of recycled nylon, and a ton of yarn can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 6.5 tons.

This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.