Design and Appearance

Like most electric sedans, the EQS goes for a ‘one box’ shape for better aerodynamics but the EQS certainly doesn’t look much like an S-Class, or anything else on the road for that matter.

For now, the EQS 450+ comes with the AMG Line styling choice as default – the ‘non-AMG’ Electric Art version could be available in the near future. As we note in our video walkthrough of the car, it makes the EQS 450+ and EQS AMG 53 look quite similar.

Like the EQA and EQC, the EQS has a similar face with the blacked-out front section (featuring tiny Merc stars) and front and rear light bars. But compared to the SUVs, it takes a bit more getting used to. It’s certainly elegant in its own way, echoing the first-gen CLS in its greenhouse, but the proportions and cues are very different from a traditional sedan, with the very low swooping nose, and the way the A-pillar windows start very close to the front wheel.

But there is a very good reason for this : The wind.

The EQS has a drag coefficient of 0.2Cd, which Mercedes claims is the lowest for any production car. That’s a feat of minor technological wonder, if you compare Volkswagen’s fuel-saving XL1 from 2011 that had a 0.186 Cd, and it was a limited -production, extreme fuel-saving technology demonstrator. For the EQS though, its slippery nature pays off in major ways for an EV, though it also has some drawbacks. 

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Interior and Features

The EQS gives a similar entrance to the S-Class: As you approach the flush door handles pop out, and the cockpit seems to envelop you with its wrap-around styling. From there, the sense that you’re driving the future only increases.

Much of the hardware (and software) we saw previously on the S-Class: The large, crisp 12.8-inch OLED infotainment screen, and a 12.3-inch driver’s display, supported by a small contingent of buttons and touch controls. The EQS 450+ doesn’t have the Hyperscreen as standard – it’s a S$38,000 option. 

But the EQS ups the ante further. The dashboard on the left features a large winglike trim panel finished with backlit three-pointed stars, and the EQS appears to have even more interior lighting strips than the already LED-festooned S-Class.

Mercedes-Benzes the most RGB-ified cars and the EQS is the most RGB-ified of them all, taking ambient lighting to an extreme level. The strips can display different colours simultaneously plus active animations now. It’s certainly dramatic and tone-setting, and no other carmaker can claim this level of intense, in-car bling, for better or worse. Even if you don’t like this sort of thing, you can’t help but be impressed at the level of detail. While you can turn it all off if you wish, it can also be distracting.

We’ve covered the fiddly nature of the mostly touchscreen interface and various touch controls in the S-Class, and it’s the same here. But the light strips do serve a practical purpose besides just being bling with reactive animations for functions (make the AC colder and a blue pulse appears) and safety (for example, they light up red to warn if you’re going out of lane).

The EQS 450+ isn’t a cheap car by far, and it never feels it. Unlike other costly rides, you won’t need to shell out lots to make it comfortable and useful. It has wireless chargers front and rear, an advanced air filtration system (‘Energising Air Control Plus’), cooled/heated seats for four, a very advanced 360-camera, self-parking, and a full complement of active safety systems (adaptive cruise and steering assist, AEB, lane keeping/warning, blind spot monitoring, and more).

Page 3: S stands for ‘spacious’ and ‘freaking silent’

1. Introduction
2. Design and Appearance / Interior and Features
3. Space and Practicality/ Driving Experience
4. Competition and Pricing / Conclusion

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