PALO ALTO, Calif. – Every electric car is quiet. That's what happens when you remove a metal box of tiny explosions from the car. The new 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS, however, is quiet. As in, carrying on a conversation at a hushed whisper while doing 65 miles per hour on choppy pavement through San Francisco. Road noise? Nope. Wind noise? Not really. Cars and trucks pushing air at you from the opposite direction? Just a mild fwaa, like someone exhaling from across the room.
This is largely the result of improved seals, acoustic foams and glass, and other noise-quelling methods Mercedes has perfected over the course of decades. That's not all that different from the new S-Class, however. Beyond all that, the EQS not only has one or two electric motors instead of an internal combustion engine, Mercedes engineered the motor components to reduce vibration and therefore noise … and then wrapped the motors in a special foam mat … and then decoupled them from the body. As a result, the whine inherent to electric motors is virtually undetectable in the rear-wheel-drive EQS 450+, and only vaguely perceptible when the front motor is added in the all-wheel-drive EQS 580. As in other EVs, you can select from a menu of artificial "sound scapes" to be pumped in while accelerating, but the silence is so stunning that it becomes part of the character.
The endeavor to eliminate noise extends to the design as well. The car's cab-forward, teardrop shape slices through the air with a drag coefficient of 0.20 Cd. That figure makes it the most aerodynamic production car, contributing to the quiet interior and, obviously, to its efficiency and range of 350 miles for the EQS 450+ and 340 miles of the EQS 580 4Matic.
The design achieves another important goal: There's no mistaking it for other Mercedes. Such differentiation, within a brand and when compared to conventionally powered vehicles, has been a common element of all popular eco-oriented cars, from the Toyota Prius to the Tesla Model S. It's indeed a strikingly different car to behold, if vaguely reminiscent of those from the 1990s that embraced cab-forward design and rounded silhouettes. In pictures, and without the benefit of scale, one could probably make comparisons to a front-wheel-drive compact sedan. Not so in person.
It is indeed a vast car, with a total length of 207.3 inches and a wheelbase of 126.4 inches falling just shy of a Mercedes-Benz S-Class. It's also a hatchback, with a trunk reminiscent of an Audi A7's. And it weighs at least 5,600 pounds, which is about 900 pounds more than an S 580. Much of that weight comes from the battery, which is sandwiched below the cabin and flat underbody, resulting in the low center of gravity one expects from an EV. And here's where the EQS becomes a real mind bender once you get under way.
Its standard air suspension with adaptive dampers provides a wafting, pillow-soft ride that beautifully isolates you from impacts, especially with the smaller 20-inch wheels. Combined with the silent cabin and one-pedal driving, it's a stately means of traveling around the city. Once venturing beyond the city limits, you would expect that wafting suspension to heave-ho into the first corner of a winding mountain road. Nope. All that battery weight and the adaptive dampers seemingly defy gravity by keeping the car freakishly level.
You will also expect that vast length and wheelbase to be cumbersome in tighter corners. Nope. The standard rear-axle steering can pivot by as much as 10 degrees (pictured above), which matches certain versions of the S-Class, but greatly exceeds the 3- or 4-degree norm. As a result, the rear end glides itself around with stunning agility, again reacting to situations far differently than your body expects them too. From the passenger seat, when free from the sensations coming through the steering wheel, you notice all these incongruous dynamics even more. It almost feels like the "Imagineered" cars of certain Disney rides like "Test Track" or "Indiana Jones Adventure" that also have extreme rear-wheel-steering and play tricks on your equilibrium. Almost. It's still pretty subtle and, if anything, a means of marveling at the EQS' technological wizardry.
A more obvious dynamic oddity is the regenerative braking, which allows for one-pedal driving in its strongest setting. That's not the weird bit. In the EQS, the brake pedal literally moves as the system slows the car, not unlike old cruise controls that would pull the throttle away from your foot. Should you need to intervene and add extra braking power, you'll find the pedal to be where it would've been had you been doing the job the entire time. Maybe this makes more sense than how every other one-pedal-capable car has operated? Maybe it's just weird? To be determined.
For the time being, there are two versions that share a common battery pack developed in-house with a usable capacity of 107.8 kilowatt hours. The EQS 450+ has a 245-kilowatt motor powering the rear axle that produces 329 horsepower and 419 pound-feet of torque. With that, you do not get the breathtaking, giggle-inducing acceleration of various high-performance EVs. Heck, in an impromptu drag race with a new E 63 S sedan along San Francisco's Upper Great Highway, we were absolutely smoked, and the 0-60 time of 5.9 seconds certainly speaks to that. It's not a slow car, however. You still get the instantaneous torque and, obviously, silent propulsion expected of an EV. We'd be perfectly happy with it. Next year's addition of an EQS 450+ 4Matic and therefore an additional motor should increase output further, though by how much, we don't yet know.
As such, if breathtaking is a must, the EQS 580 4Matic and its pair of upgraded motors produce 516 hp and 631 lb-ft of torque. It does 0-60 in 4.1 seconds, and absolutely feels like it. You're suitably flattened into your seat, surrounding cars vanish, and your passengers will be amused. Now, that's still slower than a Mustang Mach-E GT, let alone a Model S Plaid or Taycan Turbo S, but if you're measuring a car's capabilities or determining its desirability simply by a 0-60 time, you're missing the forest for the trees. The EQS is a profoundly different car from those.
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