Mercedes-Benz was one of the first established automakers to roll out an electric vehicle analogue for its traditional models, and it was far from a rousing success.
The EQS was supposed to compare to its mainstay S-Class big sedan and be just as luxurious but with performance and range like a Tesla Model S. Unfortunately, buyers didn’t take to its egg-like shape. Now there’s the 2027 EQS which looks a lot like the old one but is very different underneath with impressive specs. And the Model S is dead, so Mercedes has a lane to fill.
The redone EQS is still the full EV equivalent of the gas and plug-in hybrid S-Class, itself mildly redone earlier this year and hit with the latest round of technology and engine updates. Unlike the BMW i7, though, the EQS still looks like a big sedan from another company with a Mercedes front molded on. Mercedes might have the last laugh, though, since it reports a coefficient of drag as low as 0.20, just a little more than a Lucid Air and far better than a McLaren Artura.
That’s important because the EQS’s changes revolve around a super-long range and super-quick charging speed. While Mercedes quotes a maximum range on the most efficient EQS 450+ at 575, that’s on the European WLTP test, which translates to about 425 miles when it goes to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It might not approach most models of the Air, but it’s far more than any i7 and impressive outright.
A new 800-volt electrical architecture, though, is behind a trick charging setup. The 2027 EQS features charge speeds up to 350 kW by charging each half of the 122 kWh battery at 175 kW, good enough to add as much as nearly 200 miles in 10 minutes, according to Mercedes. The drive system can now also recoup as much as 385 kW via driver-activated paddles or the gear lever/wand/thing on the steering column. That could be fun for the driver, maybe less so for rear-seat passengers.
Another change is the optional steer-by-wire system that’s new for Mercedes for the U.S. when it becomes available “at a later date.” Using a yoke-style “wheel” that’s effectively three-quarters of a regular one, the steering can be communicative at high speeds and very quick at city or parking speeds and make the large EQS easy to maneuver in conjunction with the standard rear-axle steering. Chalk the EQS as another EV reinventing the steering wheel alongside the dead Model S and the square wheels on the Subaru electrics.
The rest of the interior looks the same as before, but adds the latest MB.OS infotainment system and driver assists, the optional AI-driven suspension damping from the new S-Class, and that car’s heated seat belts that Mercedes says encourages people to take off bulky coats in the cold to improve the safety of the seat belts in a crash. Sounds cozy.
Expect the 2027 Mercedes EQS towards the end of the year, with a starting price around $102,000.
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