Author: Ella

In the era of electrification, Mercedes-Benz has released a new electric flagship model EQS, including 450+ Pioneer Edition, 450+ Luxury Edition, 450+ Premiere Special Edition, and 580 4MATIC, with a price range of between 1.0796 and 1.5186 million RMB.

As a pure electric model of the S-class, its price is definitely considered the ceiling of pure electric cars. So, how is its driving performance? Recently, “Electric Power” journalists conducted a special test drive of the EQS 450+ Pioneer Edition and talked to everyone about their driving experience.

Dynamic Experience – Smooth and Smooth Driving Feeling

The first feeling of driving the EQS is smoothness. Thanks to the front double-wishbone and rear multi-link independent suspension with air suspension, the overall driving experience is quite comfortable. Most of the bumpiness on uneven roads is erased, giving a stable, heavy, and safe and comfortable feeling inside the car.

It is worth mentioning that the EQS has a rear-wheel steering function. When the speed is below 60km/h, it uses reverse steering, that is, the direction of rotation of the rear wheel is opposite to that of the front wheel, making it easier for the vehicle to make U-turns or turns. When the speed is above 60km/h, the rear and front wheels rotate in the same direction. Therefore, although this is a long car that is 5,216mm in length and weighs 2.5 tons, it is very convenient to turn around, with a turning diameter of only 10.9 meters. It feels almost the same as driving an A-class car, such as the 4.1-meter Honda Fit (Jazz), which has a turning radius of 10.8 meters. The standard version of the rear-wheel steering angle is 4.5° and can be upgraded to a turning angle of 10° through a subscription service, which is charged annually and is somewhat similar to subscribing to a mobile app.

The overall driving feeling is agile and there is no sense of clumsiness that comes with a large vehicle. This function is officially called “Dance of Decorations”. This term originated from equestrian sports and is also called “Equestrian Ballet”, which describes the agile and elegant driving feeling of the EQS, which is very appropriate.

As a luxury car, elegance is a necessary temperament. On the car door, the Mercedes-Benz EQS uses frameless electric doors and also has electric doors and electric suction doors. For a million-level luxury car, it is worthy of having such configurations.
The frameless doors of the EQS are undoubtedly beautiful, but they sacrifice the NVH performance, which is commonly known as Noise, Vibration, and Harshness. To improve EQS’s NVH performance, engineers have put a lot of effort into the design. All of the EQS models are equipped with active noise reduction technology, which means that the car stereo can emit sound waves similar to those of noise-cancelling headphones to balance out external noise. In addition, all four windows have double-layered, glued glass. With the help of these technologies, many evaluation bloggers and Mercedes-Benz officials have praised the excellent NVH performance of the EQS. However, the entry-level EQS that we experienced did not feel as quiet as we had imagined. But, considering that it is an electric car, it has less noise interference from the engine. Therefore, the overall noise level inside the car still performs excellently and belongs to the upper-class level within its category.

In terms of energy recovery, EQS has three modes: strengthened, standard, and no energy recovery mode, which can be switched by shifting paddles. In standard mode, 20% of the energy can be recovered. In this mode, there is still a sliding feeling after braking, and the drag feeling is not obvious. In the strengthened mode, 35% of the energy can be recovered, and the drop in speed is noticeable.

In terms of charging, EQS supports 380V fast charging, which takes about 40 minutes to charge from 10% to 80%.

The EQS 450 we test drove this time is a single-motor rear-drive version, while the top-of-the-line EQS 580 uses a dual-motor four-wheel-drive version. Although the entry-level version does not have as high a configuration as the top-of-the-line version, during the test drive, its power is more than sufficient, and the acceleration when stepping on the accelerator is very fast, with a strong pushback sensation.

Furthermore, when stepping on the accelerator and brakes, Mercedes-Benz does not change speed as suddenly as other electric cars. Instead, it changes in a more linear manner, relatively softly. Therefore, when driving, the accelerator and brake pedals can be stepped on more fiercely.

Under the four dimensions of electric vehicles, high-end intelligence is the direction that all mainstream automakers are striving to develop, and Mercedes-Benz is no exception.

Regarding intelligence, Mercedes-Benz cooperates with Nvidia and equips the EQS with an 8-core CPU, 24GB of memory, and Nvidia’s Xavier AI chip. It also has Level 3 autonomous driving capabilities. Restricted by domestic regulations, the support for mass-produced cars in China is Level 2 assisted driving, which Mercedes-Benz calls the Intelligent Navigation System. It can support functions such as distance limitation, steering assistance, and lane-keeping.

In a small, twisting-turn lane, the driver can almost fully let go and let the car do the autonomous driving, except for some larger corners that require human manipulation. When deviating from the lane or getting too close to the preceding car, active reminders will be given on the steering wheel or brakes.The intelligent aspect of the EQS is reflected in its intelligent cockpit design, which adopts the Mercedes-Benz MBUX in-car information and entertainment system. The digital instrument and touchscreen information and entertainment system are combined on a single panel. The MBUX display touchscreen on the EQS is an OLED joint large screen measuring 1.41 meters, consisting of three screens combined seamlessly to look like a complete screen. Users can download various apps and customize them for entertainment. Moreover, the co-driver control screen can be linked to the driver’s screen, which can help the driver set navigation and even provide massage and heating for the driver’s seat. The driver’s screen has intelligent camera locking technology that prevents the driver from being distracted, reducing interference with safe driving.

Regarding the interior layout, the EQS features either white or black leather material with a suede texture, providing a comfortable feel, with an overall luxurious and high-end atmosphere.

The driver’s seat is spacious enough for tall people. The trunk adopts a lifting design, providing abundant space. The streamlined design reduces the wind resistance of the EQS to 0.2, the lowest in the industry. However, due to the space occupied by the trunk and the height impact of the streamlined design, the rear space may be slightly cramped (for S-class models).

In order to highlight the luxurious and grand style, the interior door handle uses a wide-edged solid wood material, which may be a little unfriendly for women with small hands to grasp.

Additionally, the EQS has a powerful air filtration system with three-layer filtering that easily filters outdoor PM2.5. The filtration efficiency for particles of 0.1 micrometers and 0.3 micrometers is 99.65%. Eco-friendly materials are used for the car’s interior, so although it is a new car, there is no peculiar smell inside.

Design Experience: The Ambiance is Enthralling

Another characteristic of luxury cars is their cool and stunning lighting, which can achieve light shows. The EQS is no exception, with much focus on the creation of lighting for both the interior and exterior.As an electric vehicle, there is no need for an air intake grille, and the front design adopts a fully enclosed front grille design called “The Starry Sky”, which can be seen with numerous small Mercedes-Benz three-pointed stars on top. It is said that these small three-pointed stars can light up and form a feeling of full sky and stars.

In terms of exterior lighting, the EQS’s front and rear lights both use continuous light strips and have a smooth and slender beauty. However, the continuous light strip is very common in mainstream car models, especially in tail lights, almost becoming a standard configuration for electric vehicles to showcase their streamlined technology. The highlight of the EQS is that the headlights are equipped with intelligent digital headlights, which use DMD projection technology and reportedly have a pixel level of 1.3 million. Such a high pixel level allows the EQS to project the Mercedes-Benz logo and meteor shower light show directly on the ground. However, due to legal restrictions in China, it seems that this function has not been opened. Nevertheless, it can still be horizontally controlled for the best lighting effect.

DMD technology is one of the cutting-edge high-pixel matrix lighting technologies. It controls the direction of light by controlling the microlens array through digital switches to control each pixel. Its biggest feature is that it is very small in size, and due to its digital control, it has high reliability and is suitable for vehicles driving in vibrating environments.

The rear lights use dynamic flowing lights, red spiral-shaped tail lights that resemble double helix DNA structures, which also exude a strong sense of technology.

In terms of interior lighting, Mercedes-Benz has also spent a lot of effort in creating a trendy and fashionable night-time atmosphere. Here are some pictures for you to see. The interior light mode supports single-color and multi-color modes, with 64 colors for switching in single-color mode and 9 colors in multi-color mode.

The overall feeling of EQS is not as formal and dignified as other Mercedes-Benz S-Class models, but rather leans towards a sporty and youthful style, as if Mercedes-Benz is striving to approach younger audiences. While retaining its original sense of luxury, it pays more attention to and emphasizes on the sense of technology and streamlined aesthetics. In addition, the driving experience is stronger than the riding experience, with spacious front seating, making it suitable for small families or friends to go on a self-driving trip.

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.