Mercedes EQS: The S$500,000 flagship EV for younger buyers

Singapore

IF THERE is a Mercedes-Benz S-Class of the electric vehicle (EV) world, then this is it. Daimler's Mercedes-EQ brand launched the EQS virtually on April 15, and labelled it an electric companion to the Mercedes-Benz flagship, traditionally the world's best-selling large luxury saloon.

The Stuttgart carmaker told The Business Times that the new model is aimed at a different sort of customer from the traditional S-Class buyer, even though it has the same aim of bringing industry-leading tech to the market, as Mercedes typically has with its top models.

Mercedes-EQ says the EQS can travel up to 770km on a full charge, which is enough to get from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur and back. With a compatible 200kW fast charger, it can gain 300km of range when plugged in for just 15 minutes.

BT understands that the EQS will arrive in Singapore early next year. While pricing details have not been firmed up, BT estimates that it will cost at least S$500,000 at today's Certificate Of Entitlement prices (and after rebates and incentives for electric vehicles). Mercedes will launch its first EV, the EQC sport utility vehicle, here in June, and follow that up with the EQA, a compact crossover, later this year.

Mercedes chairman and chief executive Ola Kallenius said last month that the company would accelerate its electrification plans. After launching the EQS, the company unveiled the EQB, a compact seven-seater crossover, at the Shanghai Motor Show last week. Next up is the EQE, an electric counterpart to Mercedes-Benz's E-Class saloon, which will bring the new Mercedes-EQ brand's tally of models to five.

But the EQS is not simply an S-Class with an electric motor where the engine should be. It has its own chassis and is built around a 108 kilowatt-hour battery, one of the biggest in the business.

Its sleek lines make it the most aerodynamically efficient car in the world, and its futuristic interior has what Mercedes-EQ calls a Hyperscreen, a 56-inch display made up of three individual screens. The company also says that every step of the EQS production process, from the sourcing of the batteries to the materials used for its motors, was designed to be sustainable.

"We expect that EQS owners would be similar in profile to our S-Class customers in some ways, but would be somewhat more progressive," Christoph Starzynski, the head of Mercedes-EQ, and vice president in charge of the brand's Electric Vehicle Architecture, told BT at a virtual roundtable discussion.

He said that while S-Class customers tend to be slightly older and more traditional, an EQS buyer would probably be in the mould of a young entrepreneur or leader, who still appreciates the luxurious qualities of a high end Mercedes but also values sustainability and having the latest in technology, much more than traditional car buyers.

Performance junkies haven't been forgotten. The top EQS 580 4Matic version has an all-wheel-drive dual motor setup with 516 horsepower, enough to rocket it to 100km/h in just 4.3 seconds. Mr Starzynski said that even more powerful versions from Mercedes' high-performance AMG division are in the works.

Comparisons with cars from EV giant Tesla are inevitable, but the EQS has plenty to live up to within Daimler, the parent company of Mercedes, by dint of its model name.

"The EQS is designed to exceed the expectations of even our most demanding customers," Mr Kallenius said. "That's exactly what a Mercedes has to do to earn the letter 'S' in its name."