The Drive Report: Mercedes-Benz EQS 580 4Matic

I recall looking at the early concept images of what would become the EQS. Merc’s own replacement for the formidable S-Class – a half-a-century-old luxury staple among diplomats, industrialists, statesmen, and dictators – was a rather innocuous-looking jellybean offering what many other luxury EVs claimed to offer.

Several months later, piloting the India-assembled EQS 580 4Matic, that same aerodynamic form is tearing through the mountain air and along with it, any argument I may be able to make in the S-Class’s defense. The EQS, particularly in this all-wheel drive, twin-motor form, is the logical evolutionary step for the S-Class, and there’s no going back. This is a superior species and contains the seeds that bear within them, the future of personal mobility.

Function over form

The EQS’s 5.2-meter form is one (very) long exercise in aerodynamic efficiency. With a drag coefficient of 0.20Cd, it’s the most streamlined form taken by a production Merc. One that looks far more exciting on the road than it does under the spotlight. The EQS is based on Merc’s first born-electric EVA form, and as such, it has allowed the brand to completely rewrite its visual language. Boot space now measures up to 610 liters, and overhangs are shorter, with a much longer midriff that, without a central transmission tunnel frees up more interior space for the passenger. Despite its large footprint, it’s the wheelbase (3.2 meters) that eats into most of the car’s body length.

A black, opaque grille accommodating a much larger emblem is the first giveaway of this being a member, nay, the first citizen of the EQ tribe, With slick, anti-dazzle headlamps that each house 1.3 million pixels, the EQS manages to light up any pathway, not just with those headlamps but the tiny little stars that illuminate the piano black grille. The 20-inch wheels are massive and help reduce drag even further. If you’re one of the first 500 EQS customers in the country, they’re even offered with all-wheel steering.

The EQS is a striking car, not only because its sheer size lends it road presence by default, but because it manages to retain the proportionality and visual grace needed of a top-end sedan. Let’s not forget, the EQS is presently the strongest legacy car rebuttal to the likes of the Tesla Model S, on a global level. And whatever edge Tesla had in terms of software utilization and range, the EQS is overcoming fast by offering more range than any of its German competitors.

Big on tech and promises

The India-assembled EQS 580’s footprint makes even more sense when you consider the fact that there’s a massive 107.8kWh battery filling up the floor. The battery provides the car its lab-tested 857km of range – one of many feathers in the EQS’ cap. A cap that swats range anxiety as if it’s a gnat on the dashboard. Speaking of dashboards, you’ve never seen anything quite like this one. Not yet anyway, since this car debuts the “Hyperscreen” – Merc’s proprietary, pillar-to-pillar digital edifice housing three individual screens in seamless unison through a single glass panel. The central one is a massive 17.7-inch screen featuring 12 actuators for haptic feedback, offering a view of the car’s native 3D SatNav, along with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto functionality. The leg room at the back may not be as much as a long-wheelbase S, but that’s practically the only thing working against it. Storage space is higher, as is the overall utilization of space inside the cabin, with several hollow cavities previously occupied by a transmission tunnel.

The driver and the front passenger also get iPad-sized 12.3-inch screens, with the latter activated only if the front passenger seat is occupied. Everything from heads-up-display, telematics, battery status, massage functions, ambient lighting, and a host of other features are accessible from the central and co-passenger screen while open-pore woodwork, a Burmester 3D sound system and an excellent air filtration system round-up the big highlights of the interior.

Of course, the high-resolution 360-degree parking cameras make maneuvering out of tight spaces much easier, especially given the car’s sheer length but there are other clever bits of machine learning that give it a leg up over Merc’s other luxury flagship. For instance, you can use an in-built GPS to mark out the spots in your commute that need the ride height to be raised, and lo behold, the car will automatically lift up by 15mm. It still requires careful negotiation with speed bumps but the bump in ride height can make a difference as long as you’re navigating bumps very, very slowly.

Driving the EQS

The EQS is a consummate performer. Not in the “let’s stop by the track” sense, although with a few spare sets of tyres and a fast charger, that’s well within its scope of abilities. No, it performs precisely in the manner you expect it to. The EQC, Merc’s first electric offering, was particularly noteworthy for its insulated cabin, and the EQS takes that quality and dials it up by several notches. EVs are relatively quieter, but any ambient noise, be it from the traffic or the tyres, is lost in this perfectly soundproof wall between you and the outdoors.

Then there’s the Airmatic plus suspension and automatic dampers which summarily thwart any efforts by dastardly potholes to disrupt the tranquility of your ride. The damping is right up there with the S-Class, and the bottom-heavy nature of the EQS appears to have only made the overall ride better, as there’s no wallowing or bobbing of the cabin. Not around bends, and not when the car is descending from a speed bump. It’s really quite remarkable.

The twin-motor setup gives this a combined power output of 521bhp and 855 Nm of torque. There’s a lot you’re not likely to forget about the EQS when you see it, but driving it, you’d be forgiven for discounting its total weight of 2.6 tonnes because with great battery packs comes greater torque. So great in fact that even in comfort mode, the EQS’ performance can switch to a binary mode consisting of “placid” and "ballistic” forms of acceleration.

Merc has even thrown in a synthesized engine note to add a note of aural familiarity to what can otherwise be a one-note orchestra. My views on synthesized sounds notwithstanding, this one works better than the faux space-ship sounds made by most EVs as it gives you a better sense of the way this thing gathers speed. Switch to Sport+ and you’ll wonder just why anyone would need the AMG version of this car, which costs Rs 1 crore more than the EQS. Perhaps I’ll just have to drive the EQS AMG to find out but the way the 580 hurls itself towards the horizon is nothing short of super sedan-ish.

Torque is bountiful, instantaneous and kicks in, in a manner that would leave a V8-powered S-Class utterly embarrassed. It’s not about the sheer volume of the torque that feels novel, it’s how quickly its deployed to propel this sub-3 tonne whale of an EV into triple-digit territory.

Then we get to the handling, which, thanks to the rear-wheel steering and torque vectoring, is phenomenal for a car as long as this. The rear-wheel can be turned up to 10 degrees giving this a shorter turning radius (it’s still considerable) and that, added with the complete absence of body roll (skateboard chassis to the rescue) puts it in a very different league from any standard ICE luxury car in the market, and allows it to manage its weight far better than any luxury EV in the market.

Unlike other EVs, Merc has gone with three levels of regenerative braking (strong, normal, and no recuperation), that can be operated via the paddle shifters. Strong Recuperation is the best of the lot, allowing for single-pedal driving in city traffic and helping manage the car’s bulk without stressing the brakes on the highway.

Given their considerable bulk, EVs carry a longer braking distance, so sticking with “no recuperation” feels a bit unsettling, especially for a car that gathers pace with such ease. Plus, its speed does, as speed is wont to, come at the cost of range, which in the real world can easily be between 600-700km depending on how spiritedly you drive it.

Buying/owning the EQS

It’s not surprising that the EQS has already bagged upwards of 300 bookings. With the cost benefits provided by a lower GST bracket and local assembly, the EQS comes in at Rs 1.55 crore, undercutting the price of a standard S-Class. Except it offers absolute top-end levels of performance, with practically zero compromises. The only compromise you may encounter is in the form of charging times. A standard 11Kw wall box AC charger simply won’t do, with a sub-10-hour charging time. That said, domestic charging isn’t an issue since you wouldn’t find yourself charging it more than once a week.

On the highways, you’ll have to keep your eyes peeled for a 200Kw charger, most likely to be found at a Merc dealership. A 25KW charger – which is the most commonly found fast charger across the country, would still need a not-entirely-fast 3-hour charging time, although even with a 50 percent charge, you’re good for 300km.

Per km running costs amount up to Rs 5 per km for the EQS, and while that might not seem considerably lower than the Rs 6-7 per km cost of a diesel S-Class, keep in mind the 10-year battery warranty and abysmal maintenance costs of the EQS and it’ll still come out on top. Is it likely to outsell the diesel S-Class? Perhaps not immediately. But even without an extensive public charging network, the EQS makes a very compelling argument. With more 50kW to 200kW fast chargers around, electric luxury will be the obvious choice.