First Drive: 2022 Mercedes-EQ EQS 4MATIC

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MUNICH, Germany — For what my time behind the wheel of this all-electric luxury sedan lacked in length, it made up for it with the drive route. As part of the IAA Mobility 2021 show in Bavarian capital, Mercedes-EQ provided some seat time to select journalists in their all-new flagship EV, and while that only added up to about 25 minutes or so, it did include a stretch of no-speed-limit Autobahn driving. In a word? Wow.

Much of the highway route we travelled was speed-controlled — 120 km/h for most of it — but we did come upon a few kilometres of no-holds barred, and with the warning, then prompting, by my Mercedes-EQ handler, I signalled into the fast-lane — after a good long look in the rearview mirror and a shoulder check — pushed down on the accelerator, tightened my nine-and-three grip on the meaty, sport steering wheel and watched in amazement as we whipped by vehicles in the right-lane like they were standing still.

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“That was two-twenty,” my passenger said matter-of-factly once I’d backed off at the sight of a 120 km/h sign on the quickly approaching horizon.

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It wasn’t so much the top speed, or even the amazing sense of acceleration the all-wheel drive EQS’s 385-kilowatt powertrain produced (that’s 516 and change in mechanical horsepower). It was the silky smooth, and oh so quiet way in which we nearly doubled our highway speed in what felt like just a handful of seconds. During the pre-drive briefing, my handler had shown me the control to add ‘engine sound’ to the driving experience, but I preferred to keep things as quiet as possible to get a sense of how intrusive this big sedan’s cabin noise was at speed. I’m glad I did.

While there were some other lasting impressions of my brief time with the EQS — notably the precision of the rear-axle steering during deceleration around off-ramps (and on that note, a shout-out to German road engineers for their sensually cambered ramps); the ‘downshift’ sensation of the three-level regenerative braking using the steering-wheel mounted paddle shifters; and the overall solid feel of the luxury sedan — that whisper-quiet sprint stayed with me more than anything else. That regen braking range of modes includes a one-pedal driving setting, which will bring the EQS to a stop with no pressure on the brake pedal. It’s certainly not the only EV with this ability, but it’s a welcome feature when crawling along in stop-and-go traffic.

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The EQS is positioned, notionally, as an ‘all-electric S-Class,’ and while its exterior styling cues differ from the Mercedes’ flagship sedan — with its cab-forward, fastback configuration — its ride, handling and cabin punch above its gasoline-powered namesake’s weight. And much of that has to do with what every EV — be it a Smart EV, a Nissan Leaf or a Tesla Model X — has over its carbon-burning counterpart: quick acceleration, smooth riding and a whisper quiet cabin.

In the case of the EQS, much of that has to do with the platform it is built on. It is the first all-electric Merc to be based on the Mercedes-EQ modular architecture, a purpose-built EV chassis that allowed engineers to tailor all aspects of the interaction between the powertrain, the suspension, and the brakes. Then there’s the aerodynamic work that went into the body, its cd value of 0.20 the lowest of any production car every produced. Not just any Mercedes, but any production car. Clearly much of the motivation to achieve that slippery skin in the wind tunnel had to do with efficiency — less wind resistance means a better range number — but a collateral benefit is very little cabin wind noise, even at Autobahn speeds.

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The EQS not only packs a performance punch; it is chock full of all the latest whiz, bang tech, and my brief time with it only scratched the well-polished surface of what’s lurking behind that A-pillar-to-A-pillar MBUX Hyperscreen. One new feature that popped up all on its own was the microsleep warning, part of Mercedes’ latest suite of driver assistance systems. Seems I couldn’t hide my mild jet lag from the sensors, which analyze the driver’s eyelid movement. A prompt appeared on the driver gauge screen suggesting I take a 20-minute break, complete with what appeared to be a hot cup of coffee. A deeper dive on the rest of that tech will have to wait until Driving does a week-long road test in the EQS.

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I did get to appreciate the driver’s seat, however, most notably when I matted it in the fast lane. Turns out that nice, pillowy headrest is functional too, as it gently cradled my head as the Gs forced it back. Likewise, the well-bolstered seat provided excellent comfort and support, the latter very evident when decelerating round an off-ramp.

The EQS is expected in Canadian showrooms by the end of the year, and no pricing has been released yet.

So, is the 2022 Mercedes-EQ EQS the highly anticipated ‘Tesla killer.’ It’s direct competitor is the Model S, and I’ll give the edge to the EQS in handling and cabin design and comfort, but the Model S comes out on top in terms of battery software, and most likely, EPA range. Which one would I rather have on the Autobahn? The homegrown hero, hands down.