[GTO]

This luxury EV is priced to sell . Demand / sales will be very good as uber-rich customers are looking beyond the usual options for many reasons. Image (of being tech savvy), "something different" (already having owned S-Class / 7-Series / A8), bragging rights (spaceship dashboard & technology), mind-blowing performance (scary fast acceleration). It's also practical with the driving range, big boot etc. The EQS is going to sell, although the S-Class remains the benchmark for luxury & chauffeur-driven comfort. I have to admit that I would be confused between the EQS & S-Class if I wanted to spend <2 crores on a daily driver sedan. My main worry would be niggles & problems due to this being a brand-new technology for Mercedes (Tesla's maturity with EVs is 10 years ahead).

Some behind-the-scenes dope = Had a great time with Viddy & Libran. They were test-driving the EQS and we decided to meet for brunch at Buvachi Misal, knowing how Viddy loves Maharashtrian food.

Kept all the goodies ready for them:


Welcomed Viddy with a vada pav! When they arrived, the entire restaurant got up from their tables to check the futuristic spaceship out:




Great car talk (primarily EQS) and some old stories about spicy pav bhaji & Navin / Manson being on fire the next morning . Viddy & Libran are both EV converts now (although we want our fast turbo-petrols & turbo-diesels too):


Posing time:






Had a wild time with the EQS:


Smart dudes posing some more!

[ajayc123]

What a review and what a car! Makes me wish I was an ace car reviewer. At least I could hope to get to drive such cars, even if it is once. .

Anyways, notable things:
- 30 k service interval
- sealed bonnet, sounds like an appliance
- and surprisingly, did I read that correctly, no spare wheel. That's almost sounding like Tiago EV that has no spare either. Please somebody help me understand whats going on here.

[gururajrv]

Great car, great review!

However, I can't help but to reiterate what Mr Nitin Gadkari said - "I can't afford" to Mercedes!

This car is a looker. I hope they make a ICE version of this.

[Axe77]

Brilliant review guys. An incredible product indeed.

Sorry if I missed this but how does the rear seat (I mean the seat itself not the legroom) compare to cars like the E and S class? From the pics it seemed like the seat is less comfortable than even an E class, let alone an S.

To me, IF that’s the case, it might be the biggest stumbling block in a product that otherwise checks a lot of the boxes. Super low GC would be the other issue with this car and on these two counts alone, it will more likely find place for the halo factor in multi luxury car garages (A list celebrities / uber rich industrialists) rather than the person buying it as a primary chauffeur driven luxury car in a 2-3 car garage household.

[vb-san]

Originally Posted by Axe77

Sorry if I missed this but how does the rear seat (I mean the seat itself not the legroom) compare to cars like the E and S class? From the pics it seemed like the seat is less comfortable than even an E class, let alone an S.

On this point, the rear seat is reasonably good, but definitely not comparable to the S or even the E. The leg space is ample, but under-thigh support is compromised, and a tall passenger will sit with knee pointing slightly upwards (probably an Achilles heel with the electric cars with the battery pack below and the raised floor).

More than an electric S-Class, I see the EQS as a driver’s S-Class. For someone who is looking for a car in the S/7 segment and knows that s/he is going to self-drive most of the time, the EQS 580 makes perfect sense. The driver will enjoy the sense of occasion this car provides, all the niceties and comfort features, and more importantly that incredible burst of acceleration. The last bit especially won’t be not so enjoyable for the rear-seat passenger

[McLaren Rulez]

Why didn't they launch the EQS SUV here? That just makes way more sense for this market and our cratered roads

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBBI292zuL0

[DarthVeda]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

Driving the EQS 580 4Matic

The 107.8 kWh battery churns out an exciting 516 BHP and a gut-wrenching 855 Nm through 2 electric motors.

This is confusing, it is like saying a 50L tank churning out 200bhp and 230Nm of torque through a 3L Turbo petrol engine. The battery doesn't churn out the power nor the torque. Other than that sentence, excellent review.

The battery comes with both AC and DC charging ports. A 15 minute quick charge gets you 300 km of range provided you use the fast DC charger. A full charge, using a 15A socket, will take more than a day. So, you will need at least a 3 phase fast charger at home.

That DC charging speed is only good if the charger is supporting ~200kwh charging rates, and those are very rare to find in our country, what we get most often is 25kwh or 50/60kwh ones. Hopefully, this will move in the north direction once more EV with higher charging rates are released and numbers increase.

[TusharK]

Mercedes-Benz launched its all-electric EQS 580 luxury sedan in India last month. The carmaker has now announced that it has received over 300 bookings for the EV.



The EQS 580 is assembled locally at Mercedes’ Chakan plant. Priced at Rs 1.55 crore (ex-showroom), it is considerably cheaper than the AMG version which was launched earlier.

The EQS 580 uses two electric motors – one on each axle. They have a combined output of 516 BHP and 855 Nm and are powered by a 107.8 kWh battery pack. Mercedes claims a 0-100 km/h time of 4.3 seconds with a top speed of 210 km/h and a maximum range of 857 km.

Deliveries of the EQS 580 will begin early next year.

Link to Team-BHP News

[speedmiester]

Not surprised by these numbers. An electric S-Class makes a lot of sense to customers in this category.

It's quieter, offers a green image, costs less than the regular S, quicker than regular S. Maintenance and running costs will also be quite less.

Most S-classes never see the highway and the range is more than sufficient for those one off drive on the highways.

Hope this trickles down to other models soon.

[GTO]

Range Anxiety, LOL! "Range Anxiety" is the most overhyped & misused term I have come across in the car world. Sure, it was relevant when there were lame EVs offering just 80 - 100 km range, but in today's world where a Nexon gives you 300 km and an EQS gives you 600 - 700 km, range anxiety is yesterday's terminology.

Also remember that the driving range of mainstream EVs will only increase with time, to a point where customers will choose the variant with the lower range to save money (smaller battery). We'll soon see affordable EVs offering 400 - 500 km range.

On last Friday, I used the EQS all around South Bombay. On Saturday, used it all around Bandra. On Sunday, went to Della Adventure Park (Lonavla). After putting just under 300-km on it (including a few hard acceleration runs for entertainment), the car still showed 350 km left. Disclaimer = family was with me, so most of the driving was in a non-enthusiast style.

[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by GTO

On last Friday, I used the EQS all around South Bombay. On Saturday, used it all around Bandra. On Sunday, went to Della Adventure Park (Lonavla).

It looks like you had fun. Unfortunately, in the premium EV segment, things are not so rosy. Cars are not moving despite limited supplies. This is true across Mercedes, BMW, Audi & Porsche. After the initial euphoria or sort of, for varied reasons, sales are struck.

MB India has a lot of inventories for this, and even the earlier model was a flop. Similarly, despite limited supplies of E-trons or iX or i4, one can get hands to one from the incoming shipments in most cities. Though these are supposed to be sold out and whatnot, the reality is that many premium buyers are not at all comfortable picking a pure EV at this time, even though they have booked one.

None of these brands, MB, Audi or BMW, has made any efforts to create a charging network. The sales guys will happily show multiple outlets on the highway and all, but those all are common chargers. Now, we can say what's bad in public charging as we all go to the same fuel pumps, but if we see the availability or the reliability of charging stations on highways, it leaves a lot to be desired.

Somewhere, I feel, in the budget segment, EVs are a thing because of the savings it brings. But in premium, there are no such inclinations.

I chickened out recently when my EV was ready; nothing wrong with the car per-se. I could have managed to charge at home or at the destination too but somewhere felt the restrictive use case scenarios like taking to the hills or in rural areas or the super long highway drives that I usually do - Delhi- Kandla

[androdev]

I think “quick refill” for long distance touring is still a concern. EV adoption for within city usage is increasing at brisk pace even with limited choice. Once the SOP to charge at home becomes a common knowledge, lot of buyers will switch to EVs for urban and predictable touring needs. These people are most likely to have a two car garage. One needs to be very certain about the usage pattern to commit to a single car garage of EV.

Off topic: do all the bright screens bother the driver? Looks cool but concerned about strain on eyes.

[the_skyliner]

Nice crisp review!! The car looks not only hot but also futuristic.

I won't be surprised if this sells well and we see a long waiting periods soon. Exclusivity is irresistible for the riches and this one going to provide that in bulk.

Love your writing style, Libran. It's as always full of useful information.

[gnome]

Originally Posted by GTO

Range Anxiety, LOL! "Range Anxiety" is the most overhyped & misused term I have come across in the car world.

The correct term would be "Charger Anxiety". With luxury cars, a full day trip of 600+ kms is a frequent need. On such trips, there's always anxiety if we can find an available charger en route. Right now, the charger network in India is very limited and could easily get filled up. For smaller cars that are mostly used for city driving, I agree this is no more an issue.

[TwerkyC0ffee]

Mercedes locks faster acceleration behind a $1,200 annual paywall on EQS and EQE models.

SOURCE