2023 Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV rocks the electrical crossover cradle

Someway, we missed a flip. It could appear unattainable to do within the 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV 580, with its Hyperscreen and equally large head-up show flashing navigation cues like an airport runway man. However there we’re, the highway turning into gravel, the gravel to grime, grime to mud, ashes to ashes, just like the valley under, a coffin of fog. 

It’s unlikely Mercedes despatched us on an unmarked highway flanked by no trespassing indicators in its $130,000 electrical SUV. It’s equally unlikely to really feel something however elegant consolation and reassuring groundedness within the third and largest Mercedes driving on its EVA2 devoted electrical platform. 

Bigger however higher proportioned than the associated EQS sedan, but with equal consideration paid to aerodynamic styling, the three-row SUV conceals its measurement very like the fog we descend into. At an altitude of 8,500 toes or so, eye degree with aspen bushes celebrating their final splash of coloration earlier than winter, ringed by snow-capped Rockies, the creativeness wanders. My teenagers may match within the third row, and we may relocate out right here, there, nowhere and in all places unexpectedly, in a wooded cabin, ski to city, and enroll within the college of life. 

Utility poles, bare and strung out alongside the grime path, step out from the blue spruce and Douglas firs, embarrassed or emboldened by what’s grow to be of them. Electrical energy, energy, risk.

We’ve been gone 90 minutes and possibly pushed 60 miles on our uncharted course. We’re not at our midway turn-around level, an off-road course used most frequently by side-by-sides. But my drive accomplice and I’ve zero nervousness, about vary, geography, meandering, life. We’ve climbed about 3,000 toes, descended some, climbed some and are left with greater than 200 miles of vary from a predicted place to begin of 285 miles  in an EQS SUV outfitted with dual-motor all-wheel drive. (The only motor 450+ with out 4Matic has a 305-mile vary.) The EQS sedan and SUV make use of the biggest lithium-ion battery pack within the rising EQ household, with a capability of 108.4 kwh. 

The 3D navigation graphics of the 17.7-inch touchscreen, the centerpiece on the 56-inch wall of glass spanning the sprint, takes us again on monitor quickly sufficient, the augmented actuality system popping up digital camera projections of approaching intersections overlaid with flip arrows. The nav reveals charging stations within the outdated Colorado mining city of Idaho Springs, however we move by way of, like tumbleweeds manufactured from 21-inch wheels, and attain the staging space, the place propane camp espresso and uncollared canine welcome us in essentially the most Colorado manner. 

All three EQS SUV fashions come normal with an air suspension with adaptive damping, and rear-axle steering that turns the rear wheels 10 levels in part with the fronts at larger speeds, and reverse the fronts at decrease speeds. The 450 and 580 4Matic fashions add an Offroad mode to the 4 different drive modes, and it mechanically raises the suspension an inch so the bottom clearance reaches 9.0 inches when activated. 

The suspension has been cosseting us throughout our climb up the mountains, the damping working in opposition to the lean endemic of a high-riding automobile weighing 6,228 lb. Now it’s time to check its bona fides. 

However first, Mercedes switches us to an EQS SUV outfitted with Cooper all-terrain tires on smaller 20-inch wheels. You possibly can’t get all-terrain tires from the manufacturing unit, however Mercedes has some extent to show. It goals to show it on an off-road tester with working boards and air fins mounted low to direct air across the automobile. A lot of the SUV’s design, from the working boards to the flush door handles to the assorted wheel designs to the sloping roof, are supposed to scale back aerodynamic drag, not propel the SUV up slope over the chunky rocks that give the encircling mountains its identify. 

They’re not apprehensive concerning the working boards, so neither are we. We start the climb, the fog lastly breathing into rain. The torque break up between the axles is usually two-thirds as a result of bigger rear motor, however relying on mode and desires, 100% of the obtainable torque may be dealt with by the wheels on both axle to get by way of the muck. Off-roading by no means will get outdated, however off-roading in full quiet may be as enriching as a hike. 

The EQS SUV 580 has all the most recent off-road tech, together with a hill descent management that works like cruise management from 1 to 11 mph. 4 cameras, mounted on the aspect mirrors, up entrance below the illuminated tri-star, and out again, peeking out of the tri-star mechanical latch at low speeds, triangulate with the roof-mounted digital camera system to offer a mess of views, together with one that appears by way of the entrance axle to see what lurks below the entrance wheels. 

None of this tech is new to the off-road world, but it surely’s cool to expertise in a luxurious household SUV meant for city and nation greater than mud and rock. A short moguls course flexes the suspension, however the ace characteristic is the rear-axle steering. Round 45-degree turns flanked by rock and tree, the rear wheels basically push the rear finish round tight turns, letting the fronts do the climbing. When one or two wheels slip, the planted wheels take over. An electrical brake booster prevents the arrested wheels from making the grinding sound because it does with a hydraulic system. This was not a modest off-road course with a few man-made obstacles strategically positioned; it was a real problem, moist with mud, slick by rock, and graded with steep ascents and descents. The straightforward assurances mirrored its character on-road. 

But it surely was transient and we needed to hit the highway to make our flights out of Denver. Luckily, we pressed the EQS SUV 580 and its pair of everlasting magnet motors (rated at 400 kw) downslope, the one factor holding us again being the twists and turns of the mountain roads. On straight pictures, the EQS SUV 580 launches from 0-60 mph in 4.5 seconds, in keeping with Mercedes. Making 536 hp and 633 lb-ft of torque, it lacks the preliminary gut-punch thrust of faster, lighter SUVs, however the linear energy supply retains the smile rising on the similar tempo. It’s surprisingly fast for its measurement, and it strikes and handles like a smaller automobile. 

It’s constructed for consolation, but it surely feels secure and planted even when pushed, the prowess of its damping offsetting its lean. Thick A-pillars restrict outward imaginative and prescient, and the three regenerative brake settings have an effect on not solely the brake pedal really feel but in addition the throttle. Altering the regen setting from regular to strongest, for instance, companies up the accelerator, requiring extra foot strain to keep up the identical price of velocity. It’s odd, however straightforward sufficient to regulate to.

There’s an ease to the EQS SUV, even with the bottom 450+ mannequin. Customary options embrace energy entrance seats with 4-way lumbar help in addition to heating and cooling of the leather-based upholstery, all normal. The massaging seat choice needs to be common. The ability second-row seats transfer in lockstep with the entrance seats, so that you don’t should fiddle with headrests or fear if there’s sufficient room for the second row to fold down. The third row can match two tweens, and so they get armrests, USB ports, and cupholders, or it may be folded down for 31 cubic toes of area. Customary Burmester 3D sound system dials the cabin into soundscapes of rainforests and oceans or you’ll be able to rock out to Rachmaninoff in elegant serenity. And the 64-color ambient lighting creates a lightweight present that’s mirrored outdoors, with gentle bars bookending each ends of the SUV.

The 580 will get all of the goodies, Hyperscreen included, and choosing the highest Pinnacle grade provides  twin 11.6-inch touchscreens within the seatbacks, an MBUX pill that may be faraway from and operated outdoors the automobile, heated second-row seats, consolation headrests, and different refinements. In case you’ll be able to’t anticipate the electrical Maybach EQS SUV. 

We make it again to residence base with out difficulty, so Mercedes can DC fast-charge it at as much as 200 kw. Mercedes says a largely regular 110 kw will cost the battery from 10% to 80% in 31 minutes. A Degree 2 240-volt cost can get it performed in 12.5 hours. 

Again residence within the Midwest, on terra flat, the EQS SUV calls like a peak on the horizon, beckoning me to drive it. To not get misplaced a lot as to get unfound as soon as once more. 

Mercedes-Benz paid for lodging and airfare for Motor Authority to draft this firsthand report.