This High Tech Mercedes EQE Feature Is One You'll Want To Consider If You Go Off-Road

For some drivers, it's probably hard to fathom what life was like before backup cameras became commonplace in automobiles. Imagine the horror of having to use your vehicle's mirrors or worse, craning your neck to see what lurks behind. More recently, some off-road inclined trucks like the Jeep Gladiator and Ford Raptor offer a forward-facing trail camera that picks up objects and changes in terrain that might not be visible from the driver's seat. 

Mercedes-Benz goes one step further with its "transparent hood" function (or transparent bonnet to our U.K. friends) that's available on select sport utility vehicles, including the all-electric EQE SUV. The feature is accessed through a screen in Mercedes' MBUX infotainment system when the vehicle is placed in "Off-Road Mode." The system then uses the vehicle's surround-view network of cameras to film underneath the front of the car. As the name implies, the virtual representation that appears on the display seems as if the front of the SUV is completely transparent.

According to Mercedes, "Cameras show a virtual view of the area underneath the vehicle. This means that obstacles such as large stones or deep potholes can be seen at first glance." In theory, the technology would also negate the need for an additional person to act as a spotter during spirited off-roading such as rock crawling, although we're not sure how many EQE owners plan to take their $80,000 and up SUVs on anything more extreme than perhaps fire roads. 

Besides identifying off-road hazards, drivers can also assess the composition of the trail surfaces to determine traction conditions. The transparent hood works at speeds up to approximately 5 mph. As we reported last year, off-road mode also includes a bevy of "virtual gauges for inclination, gradient, topographical altitude, geo-coordinates, and a compass."

The EQE SUV is the latest all-electric offering from the German automaker. Although many components are shared with the EQE sedan, the SUV has more ground clearance and a raised seating position that defines the type of vehicles that are popular with American drivers. The EQE350 is available with rear-wheel or all-wheel drive, both producing 288 horsepower, while the EQE 500 is only available in a dual-motor 536 horsepower all-wheel-drive configuration, which Mercedes calls 4Matic.

The off-road package with its associated transparent hood is also available on certain fossil-fuel and mild hybrid models such as the GLC and GLE.