Whether we like it or not, automotive electrification is coming, and manufacturers are rolling out new model announcements fast and faster with each coming day. Mercedes-Benz is getting deeper into the Electric Vehicle (EV) fray as they fulfill their promise for a full EV fleet by 2030. Today they announce a new SUV, the 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV that will tout seven seats.
Making a reveal today with its production sheet metal, the new 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV will fundamentally be a taller version of the current EQS sedan with an additional 8.4-inches of height riding on the EQS sedan’s chassis. The EQS SUV is overall longer by about 5.5 inches but contains the same EQS sedan’s 107.8kWh battery pack to power either a rear-drive motor or an all-wheel-drive 4Matic setup with twin motors.
In the base version of the rear-wheel-drive EQS 450+ SUV, there will be 355 horsepower and 417 lb-ft of torque and in the EQS 580 4Matic SUV it will have 536 horsepower and 633 lb-ft of torque. Those figures are slightly up from the EQS sedan and will yield a quick 0-60 mph time of 5.6 seconds or 3.9 seconds for the EQS 450+ SUV and EQS 580 4Matic SUV, respectfully.
The range will still be respectable at 300 to 310 miles. That’s about 30 miles less of range than the EQS sedan. For charging, there is DC fast charging for up to 200 kW, which will add 180 miles of range in just 15 minutes of charging. The charging cycle offers a “Power Nap” feature that reclines the seats and activated ionized air, sounds, and ambient lighting to help you sleep or relax when you wait for the vehicle the charge. Genius!
The new Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV will ride on a new Airmatic suspension system with adaptive damping and settings for an Offroad mode that increases ground clearance. There’s also rear-wheel steering that can turn the rear wheels up to 10 degrees opposite to the front wheels to either shrink the turning circle radius or aid in highway-speed lane changes by turning the wheels in the same phase as the front.
Inside the new Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV is an inviting space customary to what you would expect out of new EVs from Benz. Most of the initial layout takes a page from the EQS sedan but slightly departs with some elements for the climate vents that are thinly lined at the top of the large MBUX’s latest infotainment system fed through a 2.6-square-foot OLED Hypersecreen. The large screen setup is an optional feature for the EQS 450+ SUV (gets the S-Class’s 12.8-inch portrait touchscreen display standard) and standard on the 580.
One of the party tricks of the new EQS SUV’s interior is a remarkable air filtration system with a fragrance that’s claimed to be earthy with a touch of sensuality. The air is circulated through a huge 600-cubic-inch HEPA filter under the hood that has 1.3 pounds of activated charcoal. The air filtration and fragrance system take up space under the hood leaving no room for a frunk, a misstep if you ask us just like the EQS sedan’s lack of a front trunk.
There’s plenty of space and cargo room where there are three rows of seats. Cargo space behind each row is at 74 cubic feet behind the first row, 23 to 31 cubic feet behind the second row (depending on second row seat position), and 7 cubic feet behind the third row.
You’ll notice the theme of the new Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV being closely compared to its EQS sedan counterpart being more of what we will expect out of Mercedes-Benz and many other automakers as we move close to a world of EVs. The downfall here being the current charging infrastructure, which Mercedes-Benz took the opportunity during the announcement of the new EQS SUV to reiterate the forthcoming Mercedes Me Charge network. The new network will consist of over 60,000 stations in the U.S. where there’s an equivalent amount of renewable energy powering the stations vs. ones like coal-fired plants. The service will be offered for free for the first two years.
The new 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQZ SUVs will be built in the Alabama plant where other Benz SUVs are manufactured. Having them made here in America the EQS SUV may get a price cut when compared to the EQS sedan that’s made in Germany. We expect pricing to start somewhere around $87,000 to $100,000 for each of the two initial trims of the EQS SUV when they go on sale in the fall of 2022.
