Mercedes-Benz treats its full-size S-Class sedan as the marque’s flagship. Stuffed with every engineering and technology marvel Mercedes offers, it carries the Benz name because there’s nothing it doesn’t have…for a price. Except for electric power. For that, you need another ship.
Enter the EQS. Or, rather, its roofline, beltline, and a bit of the lighting design. That’s all we get, for now. But it’s tangible proof of what’s been rumored for a while – that the next EV to join Mercedes’ North American lineup would be the zero-emissions equivalent of the grand S-Class.
Liftback Sedan Profile with Shorter Decks
What they’ve given us, for now, is a heavily-shadowed portrait. It shows that not needing to design around an internal combustion engine, Mercedes has departed a little from its usual approach to sedans. We’re getting a liftback in place of a trunk, and a shorter hood, which should create generous cabin space. The wheels are pushed far to the corners. This will allow, again, for interior space. But, in the hands of Mercedes Engineers, it will likely allow for great handling, too.
Under the hood…well, it’s an EV. So, under the floor, we don’t know precisely what we’ll find. A 2019 concept car that previewed the EQS used a 100 kWh battery pack sending power front and rear, good for 470 horsepower and a 4.5-second 0-to-60 time. But EV technology has already improved since that time, so we wouldn’t be surprised to see more impressive numbers later this spring when they are revealed.
We can’t see into the cabin in this shot, but Mercedes has already revealed that the EQS will be the first car to carry its immense, dashboard-scanning Hyperscreen, which you must see to understand.
Prices are likely to start a bit above $100,000. The rest of the EQS will be unveiled slowly over the next several months, and it is likely to be available in late summer as a 2022 model.
