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ELANA SCHERR: When we first started
reviewing electric cars, there wasn't too much to talk about.
It was basically just this car is electric,
and here's the range.
And then, they started coming out with performance versions,
and we could talk about 0 to 60 numbers, and like, whoa!
Look at this massive screen in the interior.
As EVs become more mainstream, manufacturers
are having to up the ante.
With the 2022 Mercedes EQS, Mercedes
is calling everyone's bluff.
Should the competitors play, or should they fold?
Let's take a look and find out.
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Mercedes EQ stands for electric intelligence.
Get it?
It's EQ instead of IQ.
Right?
OK, never mind.
The point is Mercedes is going all in
on electric architecture.
It has this whole new platform that's
going to work for all of its electric cars,
and the EQS is the first electric car
to come to the US market.
Now, that platform is modular, so they
can make cars bigger, smaller, wider, narrower,
and all on the same platform.
Looking at the EQS, you can see it's about S class size.
It's a large, luxury sedan to compete
with the Porsche Taycan, the Audi e-tron GT,
and of course, Tesla's Model S.
Because designers were able to start
with an all new architecture, and because it doesn't have
to have a big engine in the front or a transmission tunnel,
they could really play with the shapes of the car.
And so this car has a shorter hood
than you would expect from a big sedan,
but that means it has more space in the cabin.
And you can see it has this lovely shape that just--
over the rainbow.
The whole car.
And you couldn't do that with an internal combustion engine,
because you'd need to have so much more hood up here.
There are other cues that say this is an electric car.
This is based on a concept car.
Look at the floating stars in the grille,
and it's got these sparkly wheels.
And then, in the back, it has some really neat light
signatures.
Speaking of light signatures that's
going to be the electric S class thing.
Where the EQS really gets wild is inside
starting with the soft close door that happens automatically
when you put your foot on the brake.
What?
It's so cool.
We were talking about a big screen, but forget big screen.
The EQS is all screen.
Look at this.
Mercedes calls it the Hyperscreen,
and it is one end of the dash to the other.
The passenger gets a screen, there's a screen in the middle,
I get a digital dash.
From end to end, it is 56 inches of screen.
What's on the screen?
Pretty much anything you need.
Controlling this endless horizon of screen
is the newest version of Mercedes' MBUX system.
It's already a smart system.
You can talk to it.
It'll remember stuff.
And now it'll do even more.
For example, if you set up a profile,
and you have a conference call every Monday morning that you
normally do while you're on your way to an office,
it knows that, and it'll suggest it to you.
So you don't even have to go into the phone
and find that stuff.
You can just keep your map on.
The theory of not having to go through all
of these different menu options to get to the control
that you need is called zero-layers.
And the idea is that it'll make you
a safer driver, because you're not
spending a whole bunch of time in the screen trying
to find the massage function or whatever.
But it also just makes the car more pleasant to use.
You'll be more into trying some of those different options
that you have if you don't have to go
searching for them every time you use them.
I was saying that the car knows you when you get in,
and it does that in several different ways.
It has a fingerprint sensor.
It can see your face.
It actually recognizes you.
And of course, you can just login.
The reason that it's good that the car knows who you are
is if you share a car with somebody,
and maybe you don't want them to know
who you're calling every Thursday night,
it won't tell anybody.
Just you.
Thanks for not being a tattletale.
Now, this interior is not just screen.
Obviously, that's the flashiest part,
but when you start looking around,
this is a beautiful interior.
You've got different colors of leather.
You have a rose gold strip that runs across here.
That's where the air conditioning vents are.
And it's not just like millennial rose gold.
It's actually a reference to copper
like the early electrical wiring.
The interior of this car is a real mix of digital and sci-fi
like the screen and like these very slim vents up here.
But then, also, earthy physical elements
like wood here and these big vents that
are like jet engine turbines.
So you don't end up sitting in here going,
there's nothing happening in here.
There are other designers who are like, oh.
The future is very plain.
But Mercedes has got this nice balance of futuristic
but also physical.
I love reviewing Mercedes cars, because well, they
have great massaging features.
And then, they've got spa features.
Oh, look.
I can do hot, relaxing shoulder massage.
And then, I also want the lighting
to change to be like joy.
It's working.
I feel joy.
And also, I feel my shoulders being massaged.
This is great.
This is a great car.
I want it.
Let's talk engine or rather motor.
There are two options for drivetrain in this car.
You can get the single motor, which makes 329 horses,
or you can get a dual motor all wheel drive that makes 516.
EPA estimated range is not available yet for this car,
but Mercedes thinks it should offer
about 478 miles on a single charge, which
is pretty darn good.
Because I think the best that's happening right now from Tesla
is lower for 400s, so we'll see.
We'll see, because it could be a little bit less
when we actually get the scientific numbers.
Not only can you go a really long distance
on a single charge, it is also equipped with fast charging.
So you could get an extra 300 miles
in like 15 minutes of charging.
And if you're at one of the fast charging stations,
I think you can get a full charge in half an hour.
So you can find something to do for half an hour, right?
Now, it is a fast charge, but it is not quite as fast as 0
to 60 time.
Some of the competitors are offering sub four second 0
to 60s, and the best that the EQS can do even
in the dual motor car is 4.1.
But it is so nice and comfortable in here.
Are you really going to mind the wait?
I can't wait to actually drive this car, because it's
certainly fun to sit in, and to play with all of the options,
and to look at all of the nice materials.
It gives us a lot more to talk about
than just performance numbers.
There's a reason why Mercedes refers
to this car as a limousine.
Look at how much back seat space there is.
Might almost be better than the front seat.
You don't have the full Hyperscreen,
but you've got your own little screen in front of you
that you can control massage settings on.
There's other controls, too, but what
do you need besides a massage setting
when you're in the back seat of an S class or the EQS?
Also, this car has the executive rear seat
package, so there's another screen here
and wireless charging.
I feel VIP right now.
I'm putting the massage on.
Another benefit of fastback design
is the hatch that opens as tall as you need it to and
plenty of rear cargo space.
Seats fold down, too.
Talking again about the evolution of EV design,
I feel like when EVs first came out,
they all had basically the same wheel.
Just sort of like a flat aero wheel,
like coefficient of drag, that kind of thing.
And Mercedes offers two different wheels for this car.
This one which doesn't look like an EV wheel
although it still obviously is very efficient,
and then, they do have a more traditional solid aero wheel.
There's also 21 and 22 inch wheels available.
Do you see this?
This little guy?
He's kind of a mystery.
I'm like, what is that?
That's not the charging port.
That's on the other side.
And so I was trying to guess.
I had no idea.
But if you notice the hood has this nice single piece
clamshell.
It doesn't really look like--
you're like, where do you open the hood?
And it's like, why would you open the hood?
You don't need to.
There's no engine in there.
You're not checking anything.
But what if you need to add windshield wiper fluid?
Right they're.
So clever.
Do you like this color?
It's like the deep blue at the very end of the day
when the light is just about gone.
In fact, it's called twilight blue.
It's a special edition, though, so if you do like it,
you better get your order in quickly.
It's only going to be 250.
It gives us a lot more to talk about in the luxury EV segment.
Compared to competitors the EQS holds some strong cards.
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