Mercedes EQS SUV 450 long term review, 7,000km report – Introduction

The plan is simple. An early start, a quick breakfast on the highway, and then zip-zap-zoom to Surat, hopefully by 11am. Our quarry: Tesla’s mad Cybertruck. What’s clear is that our long-term Mercedes EQS SUV 450 with its massive 118kWh (net) battery has the range to get there easily. But can it make it all the way back? This is not something we plan to do, but going up to Surat should give us a one-way average.

Low-speed ride isn’t great as there’s a fair amount of body movement, especially over large bumps.

As expected, South Mumbai at 4:30am is a breeze. Who says the city never sleeps? But then, as we pass Mumbai airport, traffic leading out begins to build. Even worse, the surface of the roads goes from bad to worse, which means we really need to crawl at times. The bad roads also show up the low-speed ride of the EQS SUV, which, due to the soft setup of the air springs in Comfort, causes a fair amount of movement from the body. Going to Sport eliminates some of this at low speed but adds a hint of an edge. So, once the roads open out and we go faster, I return to Comfort.

Superbly insulated EQS SUV proved to be the perfect antidote to jams.

With more space to stretch its legs, the EQS SUV settles into a steady gallop, flying along silently, its superb aero and incredible insulation helping it slip through the air effortlessly – zooop! Whereas EVs were traditionally never the cars you’d choose to take on long highway jaunts, there clearly is an undeniable charm to eating up kilometres in this silent and solid EV, the wipers softly slapping on the windscreen. Insulation apart, what I also like is that on the small ghat sections and tighter corners, the 10 degrees of rear-wheel steering makes it feel surprisingly agile. Specified with two permanent synchronous motors (one for each axle) developing a combined 360hp and 800Nm of torque, the EQS SUV 450 also has a good amount of zip.

10 degrees of rear-wheel steering lets the EQS SUV take tight turns smaller cars can’t manage.

Approximately 100km into the journey, I notice that the battery has dipped to 79 percent. This faster-than-expected consumption could be because of our slow start to the day over the bad roads. But now on the faster bits, the charge consumption slows, and as we reach Surat, we have 47 percent remaining, the EQS SUV having driven 298km. This could be down to the particularly strong regen the EQS SUV manages, with up to 290kW at max. This means under peak conditions, it can convert up to 290,000 joules of kinetic energy per second back into electrical energy. This, in some part, is helped by the strong motor on the rear axle that uses a 6-phase design (two windings with three phases each). But the strong use of regen could also be the reason I feel the brakes need more bite, especially under progressively hard braking.

578km on one charge, despite being four up and not hanging around.

On the way back, we plan a quick dinner and a top-up at a convenient location. An electric storm, however, has knocked out the power supply all along the route, and we finally have to crawl into Mumbai, having unsuccessfully visited half a dozen chargers. And it’s not easy finding an unoccupied charger in Mumbai either; what chargers there are are all occupied by taxis charging up. This needs legislation. A half hour of charge at Mumbai airport, however, finally gives us a bit more of a buffer. The numbers on the display read 578km covered and 4 percent remaining on the battery. So, Mumbai to Surat and back on one charge? Yeah, we did it. We did drive without the aircon for the last 20 minutes, and the EQS SUV did make us sweat the last few kilometres, but we also made it all the way back when we hadn’t planned to. And that’s impressive.

Silent cabin and comfy, supportive rear seats make this SUV ideal for long journeys.

Superbly insulated, very luxurious on the inside, blessed with a comfy rear seat and a fair amount of agility in the city (due to the rear-wheel steering), the EQS SUV is a much more accomplished luxury EV than the EQS sedan. Sure, a regular S-Class still trumps it when it comes to important areas like seat comfort and ride quality. And this 5-seat version needs more of an SUV look, a more practical boot (with better integrated chargers and a spare) and better low-speed ride. Still, one thing’s for sure: this clearly is one of Merc’s best EVs and right up there with some of the best luxury electric SUVs around. The cherry on top: the Rs 1.28 crore price tag for this version. Certainly not cheap or affordable, but still a lot of luxury car for the money.

Also see:

Mercedes EQS SUV 450 long term review, 1,200km report

Mercedes Benz EQS SUV long term review, 6,000km report