Mercedes-Benz unveils new flagship EQS electric sedan to tackle Tesla

Mercedes-Benz believes its new EQS sedan will redefine the all-electric luxury vehicle segment as it competes against Tesla and a growing number of emerging new ventures and old-fashioned automakers.

The Mercedes-Benz EQS of 2022, launched on Thursday, is a new era for the German carmaker as it turns on EVs. The car will be part of its large S-Class car family when it arrives in US showrooms this fall.

“The EQS is designed to exceed the expectations of even our most discerning customers,” said Mercedes-Benz and Ola Kaellenius, CEO of Daimler, in a 63-page press release for the car. “That’s exactly what a Mercedes should do to earn the letter ‘S’ in its name. Because we do not award the letter lightly.”

Most importantly, the interior of the vehicle looks more like a car than a cabin from a futuristic spacecraft. It has screens on almost the entire dashboard of the vehicle. In total, it has three screens under a single 56-inch curved glass surface, including a passenger screen that is not visible to the driver.

The carmaker has not announced prices for the EQS, but industry experts expect it to easily earn $ 100,000. The starting price for the Mercedes-Benz S-Class in 2021 will range between $ 94,000 and $ 160,000. Its Mercedes-Maybach S models can fetch $ 200,000.

“They started at the top,” said Jessica Caldwell, executive director of insights at Edmunds.com. “It’s similar to what we’ve seen at some other car manufacturers. It’s their most expensive vehicle to come out first.”

The price range for Tesla’s Model S large sedan ranges from around $ 79,990 to $ 149,990, including a new high-performance model, the Model S Plaid.

The interior of the EQS is in fact the opposite of Tesla models with modern, simple interiors. Some Tesla models have only one large screen in the center of the instrument panel that controls almost every aspect of the vehicle.

The EQS “will have to have a feature to stand out. I think it’s people’s futuristic feeling that you’re actually running something else will be attractive to some buyers,” Caldwell said. “But I think the simple design for Tesla made a lot of people very happy.”

The exterior of the EQS has a similar design to its traditional S-Class siblings, but a little more aggressive with respect to the front of the vehicle. A special “Edition One” introduced by the company features a two-tone black and silver paint job throughout the car.

The car is the first EV on a new platform for Mercedes-Benz. It also features a new generation of batteries with significantly higher energy density, allowing for more range.

The first models to arrive in the US offer up to 516 horsepower and 611 pounds of torque. The total electric range of vehicles is expected to be approximately 770 kilometers.

For technology, the vehicle has a range of safety and comfort features, including a new driver system that can control the speed and braking of the vehicle, as well as assisting other functions, such as switching off lanes or driving the car in its lane keep. The system is more driver controlled than other Tesla and General Motors systems.

The EQS also includes an available augmented reality system, including headscreen, which projects three-dimensional graphics projects such as arrows on the screens to show drivers where to go.

The EQS is part of Mercedes-Benz’s “Ambition 2039” initiative, which includes more than half of the cars it sells to include electric propulsion systems, including fully electric vehicles and built-in hybrids.

Mercedes-Benz is in a race with other old-fashioned car manufacturers to launch new motor vehicles to overtake Tesla, the industry leader, which is responsible for the majority of electric sales in the US. , which plans to launch a luxury EV later this year.

“I think Mercedes Benz is going to do an excellent job on EVs,” said Brian Moody, executive editor of Autotrader. He said they must be a formidable competitor of Tesla, which he attributes to the fact that they really show the automotive industry “what people really wanted when it came to electric cars.”

“They did not want an economy,” he said. “They want a car with a lot of luxury and pay for it.”