A Week With: 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS 580 4Matic

Whether you like or detest Tesla, the corporate broke by means of client reluctance to electrical vehicles, and its success has invited any variety of opponents. Driven by authorities dictate as a lot as something, luxurious opponents comparable to Mercedes-Benz are flooding the market with any variety of rivals, the primary being the EQS 580 4Matic, the primary in a line of EQ electrical autos. 

But, as Thomas MacManus wrote in “The Penalty of Leadership,” his well-known commercial for Cadillac, “the leader is assailed because he is a leader, and the effort to equal him is merely added proof of that leadership.”

Is the Mercedes-Benz EQS 580 sufficient to rob Elon Musk of his firm’s perch atop the EV car market? TheDetroitBureau.com spent per week with the brand new 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS 580 4Matic Sedan to seek out out if the model’s first EV lands a knockout punch.

Overview

If there’s any doubt as to luxurious consumers’ willingness to take a flyer on a luxurious EV from Mercedes-Benz, think about the corporate bought 2,091 items within the first quarter of 2022. Sure, the S-Class’s 4,817 items outsold it by greater than 56%, however contemplating the EQS is a recent face, the outcomes are spectacular.

The five-door hatchback is obtainable because the single-motor 329-horsepower EQS 450+ with rear-wheel drive, the dual-motor 516-hp EQS 580 4Matic with all-wheel drive and the high-performance 649-hp AMG EQS, which provides the sportiest driving expertise and quickest efficiency on the expense of driving vary. 

An EQS SUV, constructed utilizing the sedan’s platform, will be part of the line-up later this yr.

Exterior

The 2022 EQS oozes the identical modern design language because the S-Class, albeit formed to cheat the wind, which it does admirably. With a drag coefficient of 0.20, it possesses the sleekest physique of any manufacturing battery electrical car. Certainly its face is analogous that of an S-Class, emitting the identical sense of standing, however wears a stable fascia accented by numerous tiny, backlit Mercedes-Benz stars is positioned there as a substitute of a grille.

Uniquely, the EQS’s rounded roof distinguishes it from different S-Class fashions lending it an unusual form for a luxurious car. The rear is a bit much less distinguished, notably the taillights, which resemble these of a 1998 Ford Focus sedan. It’s nearly plebian. But the EQS’s lengthy wheelbase and total size, together with its shapely unadorned flanks, do lend it an imposing presence.

That mentioned, there isn’t a entrance trunk, or frunk. In truth, it doesn’t open. So Mercedes-Benz supplies a port for including windshield washer fluid. As you may count on, flush door handles that come out as you method the car, retracting when you’re inside, as on different EVs.

Interior

Lush, lavish, extravagant; the phrases come simply as soon as ensconced contained in the EQS’s expansive cabin. The inside is indulgently over-the-top, nearly profligate; a show of German engineering and design dominance that’s convincing, however not all the time pleasing. 

Yes, the leather-based is quilted, and the seats are extremely supportive, if agency. The cabin is as hushed as library on Saturday evening. The Burmeister audio system is spectacular, so long as you skip the mediocre sound high quality offered by SiriusXM radio.

The instrument panel is overrun by Mercedes-Benz’s gargantuan Hyperscreen, which homes the car’s controls. It comes customary on the EQS 580 4Matic, and is a little bit of a blended blessing. It takes a while to get used to, and a few features are handy, however others are not possible to seek out. After looking sub-menu upon sub-menu for the heated steering wheel, I used voice instructions to activate it, taking far longer than a hitting easy button on the steering wheel, as on a BMW. 

But the hatchback form supplies for a really beneficiant quantity of cargo house.

Powertrain

EQS 450+ fashions have a 245kW Synchronous motor mounted to the rear axle rated at 329 hp and 417 pound-feet of torque and 350 miles of vary. It’s good for a 0-60 mph time of 5.9 seconds based on Mercedes-Benz. The EQS 580 4Matic has twin motors that generates a mixed 385 kW, and are good for 340 miles of vary and a 4.1 second 0-60 mph run. Opting for the AMG EQS nets 649 hp, 700 lb-ft of torque, 277 miles of vary and 0-60 mph time of three.4 seconds. 

Top velocity on the EQS 450+ and EQS 580 is restricted to 130 mph and 155 mph om the AMG EQS.

Recharging to 100% from 10% utilizing a 240-volt outlet takes 11.25 hours. Recharging to 80% from 10% utilizing a 110 kW DC quick charger takes 31 minutes.

Safety and Technology

Neither the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration nor the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has crash examined the Mercedes-Benz EQS. As with each Mercedes-Benz, there’s a really lengthy record of driver help security programs. You’ll be protected.

As talked about beforehand, the EQS comes geared up with a 17.7-inch Hyperscreen in addition to a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster. Above the glovebox, the entrance passenger is handled to a 12.3-inch touchscreen to maintain linked, watch movies or hold monitor of the journey with the car’s navigation map.

Driving Impressions

There’s a solidity and heft to this automotive that’s unmistakably that of a Mercedes-Benz. Yet as massive as it’s, the rear wheels can steer as much as 10 levels, making this car much more maneuverable for such an extended sedan. Its mass is noticeable in corners; that is too massive and heavy to be thought of tossable.

But its demeanor may be very very like that of the ever-faithful automotive butler. It delivers the serene snug trip you’d count on of a car of this station due to its adaptive air suspension. Throw into Dynamic driving mode and it stiffens up within the most interesting Mercedes-Benz custom. While you lose some compliance it by no means proves punishing. 

The regenerative braking takes some getting used to for these unfamiliar with it. While our first drive impressions faulted its squishy pedal really feel, you may discover, as I did, the numbness current all through an EV driveline made the pedal really feel appear completely acceptable. The greater downside was having to reset your most well-liked stage of regen between drives. 

2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS 580 4Matic Specifications

Wrap Up

With the arrival of the 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS 580 4Matic, Mercedes-Benz is providing the S-Class of EVs, a definite taste that may solely come from Mercedes-Benz. Is it a Tesla killer? Not by itself. But the EQS’s arrival alongside a bunch of succesful luxurious opponents, together with the Porsche Taycan, Audi e-tron GT and Lucid Air, might severely start to influence gross sales of the growing older Tesla Model S.

But it might additionally influence gross sales of the S-Class, though that has but to occur. Still, because the latter ages, and gasoline turns into a less-accepted transportation energy supply, the EQS might shortly overtake its conventional rival so long as you don’t thoughts its five-door hatchback configuration.

Once inside, most drivers received’t discover the distinction between the traditional S-Class and its electrified doppelganger. 

2022 Mercedes EQS 580 4Matic Sedan ­— Frequently Asked Questions