Deepal S07 vs Mercedes-Benz C350 E

What's the difference?

The Deepal S07 has the makings of a great family friendly EV, but with some quirks that really need to be ironed out.

Plug-in hybrids will probably not appeal to all buyers, but in the premium space they make sense.

Smooth electric driving paired with the potential for weekend trips outside the 100km-or-so range make the C350e a decent thing, let alone its price parity with the C300.

It still doesn’t top the charts for value or practicality, but even aside from the PHEV tech, the C350e remains a fun-to-drive sedan that holds its own in the executive space.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with meals provided.

If you’re left a little underwhelmed from the bland same-sameness of so many new SUVs, I reckon you’d like the Deepal S07 in the metal. Because boring it ain’t.

It’s sharp and purposeful and full of lovely creases and angles, and it stands out on the road — especially in this 'Sunset Orange' colour.

Deepal says it was designed in Turin, Italy, but I'm not sure that matters much. I mean, being in Italy doesn’t guarantee design success – just look to the modern Lancia range for proof – but I guess it’s something for a newish Chinese brand to hang its hat on.

Inside, the design is lovely, too. I like the materials used, the extended dash and the size of the central screen (though it tilting towards you or the passenger is probably overkill). And the flat-bottom wheel is a nice touch.

I'd like to know where the air con was designed, though. It feels massively underwhelming on a piping hot Sydney day. The main outlet is at the bottom of the dash, which is perfectly positioned to chill absolutely nothing, and you can’t really change the direction of the vents, either. Or, at least, I couldn't figure out how to.

The C350e doesn’t depart massively from the familiar visual formula that is the current ‘206’ generation C-Class and that’s no bad thing.

Call it conservative if you like, but having seen what’s possible when Mercedes takes risks (hello EQ models), the traditional Mercedes design language is put into healthy perspective. 

Handsome proportions and lines without any fuss - there are no unnecessary creases or panels or materials.

The plug-in C350e comes, as mentioned, with the AMG Line pack, adding 18-inch five-spoke AMG wheels, an AMG front apron, grille insert, and of course EQ Hybrid badging.

The pack also includes AMG Line styling inside, where you’d have to be a Mercedes regular to spot the specifics. The AMG-style steering wheel and seats are the biggest giveaways.

At just over 4.7m long and 1.9m wide, with a 2.9m wheelbase, the Deepal is a sizeable proposition, which means good passenger room and decent luggage space.

Starting at the boot, you’ll find 445 litres with the rear seats in place, but with the seats folded flat that number grows to 1385 litres. There’s a frunk up front, too, that holds another 125 litres.

In the back, the room is ample for full-size adults. When sitting behind my own 175cm driving position, I had more than enough knee and headroom to sit comfortably. 

There’s also a heavy pulldown divider that’s home to twin cupholders, and there are two more up front, and USB connection points galore. Bonus points for the back seat riders being able to adjust their own air temps, too.

The space inside the C-Class remains straight-forward as ever. The layout and features don’t stray from convention, meaning there’s a sizable central screen, digital driver display, central cupholders, and places to put things like a phone, with wireless charging included.

The electrically adjustable seat and steering column make getting into a comfortable position easy, and the memory settings keep it that way.

While physical buttons are scarce, the key controls are easy to access via the central multimedia touchscreen and there’s a lack of complicated sub-menus. It's a refreshingly straightforward system compared to some from rivals, especially that of former category benchmark BMW.

There are fewer than a dozen main tile buttons on the menu, and they’re clear and easy to work out. The main screen also defaults to the navigation, and the climate controls are always visible on the touchscreen.

The central storage area is laid out so a phone sitting in the charging pad is slightly hidden, meaning it’s not a distraction, plus the cover means the cupholders and storage can be hidden away. Tidy!

The AMG-style steering wheel’s haptic controls can be used as regular buttons, but more than once on the test drive I nudged the volume and turned my music back on, just a minor annoyance.

In the second row, there’s generous space for a mid-size sedan, and the seats are comfortable for an adult to ride along for a lengthy trip.

There’s a centre armrest, hidden cupholders, and a generally light and open feeling thanks to the panoramic sunroof.

The battery for the hybrid system sits under the second row seats, which means there’s no uneven flooring in the 315L boot.

The Mercedes-Benz C350e kicks off from $98,200, that’s before options and on-road costs.

And there are some key options, the main one being the ability to DC fast-charge which costs $1500 and brings the total to $99,700.

Pricing sits par with the C300 non-PHEV because of its similar specification, and Mercedes Australia said it wanted to give buyers the choice of internal combustion engine (ICE) or PHEV without having to consider the costs.

There’s a decent stack of standard kit in the C350e, including power adjustable heated leather seats, a 12.3-inch multimedia touchscreen and same-size digital driver display, head-up display, and wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.

The C350e also scores some more fun stuff as standard, including a Burmester surround sound system, panoramic sunroof, the Driving Assist Plus pack, augmented reality MBUX, and the AMG Line pack which adds some sportier-looking design features.

It also comes with Mercedes’ Comfort Suspension which includes self-levelling suspension, and Digital Lights with adaptive high beam.

The S07 is powered by a single 160kW/320Nm rear-mounted electric motor and it's rear-wheel drive. That’s enough output, says Deepal, to push the S07 to 100km/h in 7.9 seconds — not bad for a two-tonne-plus SUV.

The C350e’s plug-in hybrid drivetrain consists of a 2.0-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder engine and an electric motor that drives the rear wheels via a nine-speed automatic transmission.

The combustion engine’s peak outputs are 150kW and 320Nm, while the 95kW/440Nm electric motor works with it to land on a total system output of 230kW and 550Nm.

While it’s not lightning quick, the C350e has a decent claimed 0-100km/h sprint of 6.1 seconds, and from the driver’s seat it certainly feels brisk enough to get out of its own way.

The 79.97kWh ternary lithium battery delivers a claimed driving range of 475km. It is, however, set up for just 92kW DC fast charging, which means going from 30 to 80 per cent will take just over half an hour. That’s at an appropriate DC fast charger, of course. Your 7.0kW AC home wallbox will take 11 hours, or eight hours if you can draw 11kW.

Mercedes officially claims the C350e has a driving range of 104km under NEDC testing, with a 25.4kWh battery supplying the juice.

Official fuel use is just 1.5L/100km, but Mercedes says that becomes 7.6L without any battery charge to help it out.

Under standard 11kW AC charging, it’s about two hours from flat to full, but with the optional 55kW DC fast-charging, it takes about 20 minutes from flat to 80 per cent.

Binging, bonging safety systems aside, the Deepal S07's drive experience is relatively peaceful.

It can feel heavy, and isn't dynamically perfect through tighter bends, and even in the city the suspension - which does a good job ironing out most road imperfections - can clang over sharper, bigger stuff, especially if you're too enthusiastic with a speed bump.

But provided you're not asking too much of it on some twisting pass, and you're gentle enough over really big bumps, the S07 behaves much as you'd expect a big, wafty electric SUV might.

That is, with a smooth flow of power, steering that isn't overly direct, but not overly sharp either and with comfort the order of the day.

There are some annoying quirks, though, that would seem easy enough to iron out. The safety systems are often intrusive – and other Chinese brands can get them to be far less annoying – but I also found the tech and user interface annoying and fiddly, which again would be easy enough to fix.

The C350e has a few drive modes that are mostly self-explanatory, those being Battery Hold, Electric, Hybrid, Sport and Individual.

You’ll likely find yourself using Electric and Hybrid most of the time, so we’ll focus on those. Sport is fine but somewhat defeats the purpose of the plug-in system for day-to-day driving.

In electric mode, the C350e doesn’t feel like it’s lacking any power without the engine helping it along. Acceleration is smooth, brisk enough, and a 130km/h top speed means you won’t need the engine on your commute.

Realistically, its 104km range is probably somewhere closer to 80km, but covers you for a decent daily distance.

Let the car use the engine to help out via Hybrid mode and, if you’ve got music playing, you might not notice the engine starting and cutting. The system is smooth and it means a much longer life out of the battery before needing to charge. That, and there’s the benefit of more brisk acceleration thanks to the hefty 230kW/550Nm total outputs.

Everything else about the C350e is classic C-Class - the ride is controlled and the suspension does a decent job of soaking up bumps and rough roads, the comfort and self-levelling suspension makes cornering smooth and inspires confidence.

The most noticeable shortcoming for the car is its transmission hesitation if you put your foot down quickly, though the ability to use the paddles to choose your own gears in Sport mode avoids this.

In Electric or Hybrid, the paddles decide how much braking regen to apply, a useful feature that lets you recuperate some power for the battery if your drive includes a lot of downhill slopes or if you’re avoiding relying on the brake pedal.

The C530e’s extra weight doesn’t dull its driving characteristics as you might expect from a car laden with PHEV tech, so it’s a welcome surprise that you could pick up a plush plug-in for the same price as a combustion C300.

The C-Class has a five-star ANCAP rating, but it was tested in 2022 before the plug-in variant arrived.

Still, 10 airbags and an advanced list of safety features provides peace of mind.

The C-Class benefits from the brand’s Pre-Safe collision protection system to minimise occupant injuries from an impact, even to your hearing.

It also has emergency collision avoidance via steering input, driver monitoring, speed limit assist with adaptive cruise control, and parking sensors with surround-view cameras.

The S07 is covered for seven years or 160,000km, while the battery is covered for eight years or 240,000km.

Servicing is required every 12 months or 10,000km, and the brand’s capped-price servicing program covers the first seven services (or eight, if you include the initial 5000km check-in, which is free), for a total $2981.43 (or an average of $426 per paid workshop visit).

Mercedes has a five-year, unlimited kilometre warranty which is decent for a premium brand.

Servicing is pricey, though. 

A three-year pack covering a service every 12 months (or 25,000km, whichever comes first) costs $3355, that being just three services.

Four years costs $4630, or five includes a more expensive service and brings the total to $6890. That’s an average of $1378 per service.

Finding somewhere to spend that money shouldn’t be hard as there are 100 dealers listed in Australia.