2023 Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV First Drive: Living Large In The Electric GLS

Earlier this spring, I was down in Alabama hanging out with Mercedes-Benz for the German automaker's reveal of its first battery plant in the United States, opening just 25 years after the three-pointed star first descended upon the Southeastern United States with its first U.S. factory. Before spending time learning about how Mercedes will recycle lithium from its vehicles' battery packs while also eliminating the use of cobalt, though, I was taken on a brief ride around Mercedes-Benz United States International (MBUSI)'s proving grounds in a pre-production EQS. But it wasn't the sedan.

It was the Mercedes-EQ EQS SUV, the flagship SUV for the all-electric EQ lineage. Wrapped in cobalt blue clothing to hide its lines from prying eyes, I rode shotgun for a few moments as one of the engineers demonstrated its off-road ability. It was a fun ride, to be sure, but that's all it was. After all, the new SUV was still under wraps until its world debut on April 19 in Los Angeles; thus, I couldn't drive it.

That would all change just a few months and a couple of seasons later. Recently, Mercedes-Benz invited a group of journalists to tap the Rockies of Denver, Colorado with a first drive of the EQS SUV, plus a sneak peek of the next member of the Mercedes-EQ family (which you'll have to wait a little longer to see). A cosmopolitan backdrop a mile above sea level, surrounded by towering mountains? Sounds like the right place for the newest Mercedes flagship to show us all it could do.

It's been six years since the Mercedes-EQ line of battery electric vehicles first rolled into Paris in concept preview form (the Generation EQ concept, if you need a refresher). Two years later, the first member of the family, the EQC, brought the Generation EQ concept to the production line, though only European and Chinese consumers could buy the SUV. The EQC was followed by the EQV minivan and EQA subcompact crossover, and like it, both are only available in China and various European countries.

Then, there's the EQB, the GLB-based EQ SUV currently making a splash outside of the U.S. For those of us in the land of bald eagles and fireworks, though, we'll be getting the EQB as a 2023 model soon. It just won't be the first Mercedes-EQ in our showrooms. That honor belongs to the EQS Sedan, the first of the EQ lineage to be built upon a dedicated EV platform, dubbed EVA.

Rolling into U.S. showrooms almost a year ago, the flagship EQ sedan brought with it the lowest drag coefficient of any mass-production vehicle in the world, very important when range anxiety is still — sadly — a thing. It also has rear-wheel steering, a range of 340 to 350 miles between charges (depending on if you choose the 450+ or the 580 4MATIC), and even an AMG version with 649 horsepower and 700 lb.-ft. of torque to leave you breathless when you punch it down the open road.

However, the U.S. is still very much a truck-and-SUV party, a fact Mercedes is quite aware of. That's why the EQS SUV is the next member of the family to arrive upon our shores.

Or, should we say, from the Deep South. Unlike the EQS Sedan, which is built in Germany, India and Thailand, the EQS SUV is built alongside the GLS and GLE down in Vance, Alabama's MBUSI plant. The SUV's battery packs are supplied by the newly-opened Mercedes-Benz Battery Plant nearby. The flagship EQ SUV will soon be joined by the EQE SUV, also to be built at MBUSI.

Coming to showrooms very soon, the EQS SUV can be had in three powertrain levels: the 450+, the 450 4MATIC, and the 580 4MATIC. In turn, all three can be had in three trim levels: Premium, Exclusive and Pinnacle. The SUV features rear-axle steering standard, providing up to 10 degrees of steering angle to make maneuvering through the tight city streets a breeze, and has active parking assist with PARKTRONIC and Surround View System for parallel parking without having to do all the work.

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Of course, the main draw of the EQS SUV is its ability to hold more. The sedan holds up to five passengers, and between 22 to 63 cubic feet of cargo, depending on whether the rear bench is folded down. The SUV, on the other hand, can hold up to seven passengers with the optional third row, which does take some cubic footage out of the overall cargo space. What space it has, too: between 71.3 and 74.2 cubic feet for everything you can think of bringing to the big gala! And the best part? It does it all on the same wheelbase of 126.4 inches as the EQS Sedan. Then again, the SUV is also over 7.8 inches taller than the sedan.

Our journey in the Mercedes-EQ EQS SUV would see us begin in downtown Denver, and then head to an off-road course 90 minutes west in the Rockies. Pairing up with Road & Track writer Lawrence Ulrich in a blue EQS SUV, I took the wheel out of the city into the mountains which meant he could focus on the massive MBUX Hyperscreen. The dash-dominating 56-inch curved glass centerpiece is full of information and entertainment from not only Mercedes' own MBUX system but Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Mercedes-Benz

One of the things missing from this example, though, was a heads-up display (HUD). Turned out we had the base Premium trim level of the EQS 580; the Exclusive and Pinnacle trims have the HUD. Keeping my eyes up through the fog and around the slow turns throughout the ascent was a good idea, though, as while the Hyperscreen's GPS system was stunning to look at, it was also too much for me to take in as far as the important route information was concerned (and a bit slower on the draw than Siri or the Google Assistant in giving out directions, too); the simplicity of Garmin, Apple Maps and Google Maps works best for me.

Still, if all-tech-all-the-time is your thing — why else would you be reading SlashGear, after all — the Hyperscreen is the pinnacle of Mercedes' GUI ambitions. Its passenger-side display not only allows the passenger to watch videos (so long as the driver keeps their eyes on the road; the display will switch to a warning if they glance across), it can also display up to three photos in sequence. Thus, your passenger can see your EQS SUV while being driven around in your EQS SUV, as Xzibit might've said back in the day.

As far as the drive up to the off-road course went, though, it was nerve-wracking. After all, it was raining all day with low clouds covering the mountain roads. Big city roads have no chill, either, especially for someone who's completely unfamiliar with Denver's streets. Ulrich did find the seat massage controls to help make things feel better, a welcome addition even on the entry trim SUV.

Mercedes-Benz

The EQS SUV, meanwhile, handled itself quite well as the tough city streets gave way to long interstates and windy state routes. Now and again, my ears only heard the engines of other vehicles, the EQS 580's pair of electric motors moving the 21-inch wheels along the wet pavement. If things were drier along the interstates, both Ulrich and I could've really flogged the 536 horses and their combined 633 lb-ft of torque with glee, though we managed to make the most of those horses along the way up and back down the mountain.

Speaking of the mountains, most big SUVs — luxurious or utilitarian — aren't as comfortable throwing their weight and size around as the EQS SUV. The 10 degrees of rear-axle steering aren't just for sliding through the city, but add an unexpected degree of deftness in the corners on the long way home, too. But that's not all the tricks the flagship EQ SUV has in its bag.

The first time I hit the unbeaten path was as a passenger in the EQS SUV on the MBUSI off-road test track back in April. Then in June, I spent the day driving a Ford Bronco Everglades through an off-road course on Drummond Island in Northern Michigan, popping off fenders and smashing my left knee into the light switches along the way.

This time, I got the chance to combine the previous two outings into a 30-minute trek with a Mercedes engineer riding shotgun through the mud and rocks of a short off-road trail near where Ulrich and I arrived. Now, the Bronco Everglades is an enhanced version of an already off-road focused SUV, one with short overhangs, a short wheelbase, and massive off-road tires with seven terrain modes to dominate the trail. Just add a snorkel and winch, and you're pretty much unstoppable. The EQS SUV, on the other hand, is a high-street SUV with off-road capabilities, but don't expect to see too many of these drive through the deep puddles or climb the roughest of rocky steps. 

Even with its cameras able to see the ground beneath the SUV — especially handy when about to descend down a hill — the EQS SUV felt out of place on this little trail. When I suggested to the engineer during the drive that Mercedes build an EQ as hardcore as the Bronco Everglades, it turns out that the automaker was already one step ahead. Just such a thing, the EQ G-Wagen, is already in the works per Mercedes-Benz boss Ola Källenius.

The following morning, I grabbed one final opportunity to drive the Mercedes-EQ EQS SUV by taking it on a loop of downtown Denver. Traffic was light, and it felt right to be experiencing the SUV in what's undoubtedly going to be its natural environment. It was also a chance to spend more time focused on the technology: this particular example had the HUD, so I got to see not only how fast I was going on the windshield, but also the turn-by-turn navigation which was otherwise on display on the Hyperscreen.

Down on the street, the EQS SUV felt right at home. It's in this world most owners will get the most out of the EV; the 580 alone has an MPGe rating of 79 in the city, 74 on the highway, and 77 combined. With fast-charging on a 200kW DC charger, the 108.4 kWh battery pack should be up to 80 percent charged in about 30 minutes. The Energizing Air Control Plus system with HEPA filtration means you can pull up behind or next to a dump truck or big rig at a traffic light without diesel fumes (or other scents of the city) polluting the air of your EQS SUV. And, as mentioned earlier, it's got plenty of room for groceries and special trips to IKEA.

Six years ago, Mercedes-Benz set off on its electrification journey with a preview of what the German automaker had in mind for the future of motoring. Today, the harvest has only just begun, the EQS SUV flying the electric flag for all of the Mercedes-EQ SUVs here and to come. And like any flagship, it has a price to match, ranging from the EQS 450+ Premium's starting price of $104,400 to the EQS 580 Pinnacle's starting price of $132,200. Early adopters will help fund the development of more affordable models, of course, and lower-cost EQs down the road: a road filled with more electrons and silence than gasoline exhaust and roaring V8s.

The EQ line is also a signal that one day, all of Mercedes' models, including those in the Maybach and (especially) AMG families, will all be electric. The automaker's goal, after all, is to be fully electric by 2030 in markets where it makes sense to do so, like the United States. It's going to be quite the ride, for certain, but one Mercedes can handle with confidence. Just leave the off-roading to the EQ G-Wagen.