By Eric Peters
Mercedes sells two EQEs.
One of them is an electric sedan and the other an electric crossover SUV. They don’t look the same, but they’re both named EQE, which is kind of like naming a pair of fraternal twins Jack and Jack.
It can be a little confusing.
But though they’re related, they’re also different, even though they’re both about the same size and use the same electric drivetrains.
What It Is
The EQE is the crossover SUV version of the EQE sedan, or vice versa, depending on how you prefer to look at it. Both are midsize electric vehicles that have the same standard and optional drivetrains.
So, what’s different other than shape?
Well, the EQE, being shaped like an SUV, has almost 60 cubic feet of cargo-carrying capacity with its rear seats folded (and more than 18 cubic feet behind them, when they’re in use). There’s much less than that in the EQE sedan’s trunk.
It also has a bit more rear seat legroom, too.
But it’s also several hundred pounds heavier, and for that reason doesn’t go as far on a charge as its lighter (and aerodynamically smoother) sedan sibling.
And its price to start is higher — $77,900 for the rear-wheel-drive EQE 350+ SUV versus $74,980 for the 350+ (and rear-wheel-drive) version of the EQE sedan.
However, you can get an EQE 350 SUV with all-wheel drive for the same $77,900 as the same thing in a different shape — the EQE sedan with all-wheel drive, which also stickers for $77,900.
A top-of-the-line EQE 500 SUV (which comes standard with AWD) lists for $89,500. It’s $85,900 for the same thing in the shape of a sedan.
What’s New For 2023
The EQE SUV is Mercedes’ newest electric vehicle.
What’s Good
More room for things, as well as people, than the EQE sedan.
It can pull up to a 3,500-pound trailer.
Doesn’t seem to lose charge as quickly as some other EVs.
What’s Not So Good
Maximum fully charged range is only 279 miles.
If you opt for AWD, the range goes down to 253 miles.
Like all EVs, it takes a long time to charge at home. And the alternative — a commercial “fast” charger — means you’ll be spending more time away from home.
Under The Hood
The EQE’s power storage source is a 90.6 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery. It feeds power to one — or two — electric motors, depending on whether you choose RWD (and just one motor) or AWD (two motors).
The RWD EQE 350’s single 288 horsepower motor doesn’t sound particularly powerful — until you take into account the 417 foot-pounds of torque this motor produces. It’s why the RWD EQE 350 can get to 60 in less than six seconds.
The AWD-equipped EQE has the same rated horsepower, but advertised torque increases to 564 foot-pounds.
However, the electric Benz’s range decreases from the RWD version’s 279 miles to just 253 miles.
The strongest version of the EQE SUV, for now, is the EQE 500, which comes with two more powerful motors that, combined, produce 402 horsepower and 633 foot-pounds of torque.
It can get to 60 in 4.4 seconds.
On the Road
The power (and immediate torque) of electric motors belies the weight of electric vehicles insofar as acceleration.
But there’s no getting around entropy.
It takes a lot of energy to get 5,300-plus pounds of anything moving, especially quickly. But electric vehicle battery packs don’t store very much energy. To be precise, they store the rough equivalent of about half a tank of gas, or about 7 gallons.
You see the problem.
It isn’t even a range problem, per se. The tandem problem is the time it takes to get that range back. Especially at home, where the “fastest” you can recharge an EV is Level II, using a 240V outlet. That takes 8-11 hours to recover a full charge. If you haven’t got a 240V outlet and use a standard 115V-120V household outlet, it will take more than a day to recover a partial charge.
At The Curb
Being shaped like a crossover SUV, the EQE benefits from the attributes that have made crossover SUVs much more popular than cars, which they’ve all but replaced.
The chief attribute being room, and here we have an interesting study in contrasts.
The EQE SUV has 18.4 cubic feet of cargo space behind its second row, which is more than the EQE sedan has, because the latter only has a small trunk for stuff. It can’t be expanded to accommodate more stuff, either. But in the EQE, like most SUVs, you can fold the rear seats down and more than double the available cargo space to 59 cubic feet. This endows the EQE SUV with the ability to carry stuff and people. Plus, people and their stuff.
It shares with the EQE sedan flush-mount door pulls that extend when the key holder approaches, and with the EQS sedan (Mercedes’ top-of-the-line electric sedan) what appears to be a single, large LCD touch screen that combines the main 12.3-inch driver’s instrument cluster with the secondary 12.8-inch screen for the apps, rather than the physically separate, two-piece displays in the EQE sedan.
The Rest
The EQE has its charge port located on the passenger-side rear quarter panel, which means you may have to back up to get close enough for the charge cord to reach wherever your plug (at home) is. Be aware that you can’t use an extension cord because the factory-supplied charging apparatus will detect impedance and disallow the charge.
The Bottom Line
Both EQEs are posh, powerful, but short-leashed vehicles.
Until more energy can be stored in EV batteries or a way can be divined to get one off the charger much faster, the market for these and other EVs will be limited to those who can afford the wait, don’t drive much or are affluent enough to have a second vehicle available to drive while their EV charges up.
Eric’s latest book, “Doomed: Good Cars Gone Wrong!” will be available soon. To find out more about Eric and read his past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.
COPYRIGHT 2023 CREATORS.COM
