Kia EV5 vs Mercedes-Benz Eqs450

What's the difference?

The size is right, the price is right and the drive is right – three things that make the Kia EV5 a pretty formidable foe, and the kind of vehicle that might finally be able to break through the wall of the temple of Tesla in Australia.

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

Does electrification enhance the seven-seat SUV experience? In the case of the EQS450, the answer is yes. Smoother, quieter and with plenty of easy-flowing power, the brand's family-focused luxury electric SUV behaves exactly as you might expect.

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

If you’re familiar with any of Kia’s EV designs, and specifically the EV9, you’ll already know the Kia EV5, which looks a lot like a shrunken version of the company’s biggest electric 4WD.

But this one looks a bit smaller, a bit more familiar looking, and maybe a bit more accessible than the hyper-modern EV9.

Honestly, it looks like a contemporary, mid-size SUV that could be powered by anything.

There are a couple of EV5 design elements I really like. The first is the combination of hard edges and subtle curves, which combine really well. I also love the lighting treatment up front, which gives the EV5 a bold and unique light signature, especially at night.

Inside, it’s another story of familiarity, with a clean, high-tech cabin and Kia’s common twin-screen set-up. Actually, it’s more a triple screen, with two 12.3-inch screens, and a 5.0-inch climate monitor between them.

The materials are all nice, and they look great, but they don’t exactly melt under the touch, and that gives the EV5’s cabin a hard edge I don’t love.

I do, however, love the inclusion of some physical buttons, so you’re not pawing through the screen to access every in-car function.

And one final design quirk. I know it looks like it has an old-school bench front seat, but you can’t use it as a third seat in front. Kia says it’s just a design flourish. But it is also somewhere safe to pop your phone or other small valuables to stop them sliding about when you're on the road.

It’s a handsome SUV, and one that’s not immediately recognisable as electric — especially given there are little exhaust-pipe-mirroring design flourishes at the rear which make you look twice.

Aussie-spec cars get the AMG exterior treatment, which includes AMG alloys, aluminium-look side steps and the power-domed bonnet, but there's still nothing overly 'shouty' about the design, with the sleek, smooth body panels (accentuated by the hidden handles) making the EQS450 look smaller than it actually is.

Inside, it’s a super-comfy space to spend time, and the little fluffy pillows attached to the headrests should be standard in every car. The tech on offer is ample, too.

But it does all feel a little gigantic, with great swathes of wood panelling and massive screens, all of which make you feel bit like you’ve been shrunken down and are now living amongst the giants.

At 4615mm in length, 1875mm in width, 1715mm in height, and with a wheelbase of 2750mm, the Kia EV5 is roughly the same size as a Tesla Model Y, so if you’re ever sat in the back of the Tesla, you’ll have a fair idea of what to expect here.

Sitting behind my own 175cm driving position, I found I had a heap of knee room, more than enough headroom, and I reckon you could fit three adults across the back seat pretty easily, too.

There are a couple of design flourishes I really like, too. The pull-down divider that separates the backseat is home to two cupholders, which isn’t unusual, but what is new to me is the unique positioning of the USB charge ports, which are in the middle-back of the front seats, right above the storage pocket, so you have somewhere to pop your phone and cable when you're charging.

There is also a deep storage draw between the two front seats. It’s just for extra storage in the Air and Earth, but in the GT-Line it’s heated and cooled, which means hot pies or cold drinks when you’re on the move.

The EV5 might be an all-electric vehicle, but it’s still a mid-size SUV, which means there are certain standards it has to hit to be taken seriously, and one of those is boot space.

Up front there’s 67 litres of space in the fruit, or frunk, while the boot holds 513L with the rear seats in place – that number obviously growing as you begin folding them flat.

It is also a hugely customisable space. There’s heaps of under-floor storage below the removable panels. There’s also vehicle-to-load capability, which takes the form of a standard power point in the boot that can use the vehicle’s battery to power pretty much whatever you want.

Finally, there are adjustable luggage hooks, so you can carry bigger or smaller bags as you wish.

The EQS450 stretches 5136mm in length, 1965mm in width and 1718mm in height. That's about the size of a Nissan Patrol and long enough to make it a proper seven-seater.

The middle row can be adjusted forwards or backwards, and with the front seat set to my 175cm driving position, I found I had ample head and knee room to get comfortable.

USB-A charge points abound, and there's wireless device charging, and because of the sheer size of the cabin, the storage options are plentiful. The central bin between the front seats, for example, seems styled on the Grand Canyon.

In the third row, though, things get a little tighter, but it’s perfectly good for kids. My knees were touching the seat in front, however, and it still requires some acrobatics to climb into.

At the rear, with all three seats in place, you'll find 245L of room (measured to the ceiling), growing to a maximum 1030L with the third row flat. Stow the second row, and you'll find a maximum 2020L of storage space – which, and take my word for it – is plenty.

One small quirk, though. While the second row is electric, stowing away at the touch of a button, the third row isn't. That means, when it's flat, you have to climb into the boot to pull it back up, or attack it from the rear door. Either way, it's more awkward than it needs to be.

Arguably the biggest hurdle the EQS450 has to clear is its asking price, which is a considerable $194,900, before on-road costs.

Inside, you'll find leather seats and trim, a big 12.8-inch central display (and a head-up display), a 12.3-inch digital instrument display, a Burmester sound system with 15 speakers, a panoramic sunroof and cooling and heating in the front seats.

Outside, there are 21-inch alloys, flush-fitting door handles, illuminated running boards and LED lighting, which Benz calls 'Digital Lighting', and offers 1.3m pixels of light per headlight.

The entry-level EV5 Air is available in Standard Range or Long Range guises, both powered by a single front-mounted electric motor, producing 160kW and 310Nm. 

The Standard Range will clip 0-100km/h in 8.5 seconds, while the extra weight of the bigger battery slows down the sprint in the Long Range, taking around 8.9 seconds. 

The Earth is a twin-motor AWD offering, with a motor at each axle, lifting outputs to 230kW and 480Nm, dropping the sprint to a brisk-feeling 6.1 seconds. The incoming GT-Line gets the same powertrain.

There are two electric motors delivering the driving power, one at the front axle and one at the rear, which will deliver a combined 265kW and 800Nm, fed through a single-speed transmission and with all four wheels being powered.

That's enough for a sprint to 100km/h of 6.0 seconds.

The Air Standard Range gets a 64.2 kWh lithium iron phosphate battery, weighing in at a hefty 428kg, which delivers a claimed driving range of 400km. The Air Long Range, the Earth and the incoming GT-Line all share the same 88.1kWh battery, upping the range to 555km, 500km and 470km, respectively.

So, if driving range is at the very top of your must-have list, the Air Long Range is the car for you.

All cars can take 7.0kW home AC charging, while the dual-motor versions are set up for 11kW AC charging. Fast charging. When it comes to fast charging, all models can plug into a 350kW charger, taking them from 10 percent to 80 per cent in less than 40minutes.

There's a huge 107.8kWh on board here, but the EQS450's driving range is a less impressive 483km. Maybe something to do with the 2918kg weight of this big SUV.

Don't get me wrong, 483km is plenty to cover almost anyone's weekly commute (and then some), but early promises had pointed to a range of more like 600km.

When it comes time to plug in, you'll find the EQS450 is set up for 200kW DC fast charging, which should see you go from 10 to 80 percent charged in just 31 minutes.

Home charging is, of course, a slower proposition. A three-phase 11kW supply should take 10 hours, while a 7.0kW wallbox will be slower again, and more like 15 hours.

First things first – I spend most of my time behind the wheel of the EV5 Earth, which though it shares its dual-motor powertrain with the GT-Line, is actually the fastest of the lot owing to the extra weight of Kia's flagship.

That means zero to 100km/h in just over six seconds, and trust me when I say this, that is more than fast enough. I know you read about EVs knocking off the sprint to 100km/h in supercar-besting times, but you don't need that sort of crazy acceleration in a family-focused mid-size SUV.

Actually, forget needing, you don't want it. The EV5 feels more than punchy enough, without shaving years off your life every time you plant your foot.

Fit for purpose, then, which is exactly how I'd describe the rest of the EV5's very good drive experience. Kia's Australian ride and handling wizards have once again had their way with the EV5, and the result is an EV that handles most everything Australian road surfaces can throw it at it with ease.

Surprisingly, it's maybe not quite as dynamically sharp as the bigger EV9, but it's always comfortable, without feeling floaty or disconnected, and it will happily grip its way around tighter corners without tipping from side to side, either.

There are a couple of small quirks, though. The first is the steering, which is definitely responsive and confidence inspiring, but it also has a kind of artificial weight or heaviness at times that feels a bit disconnected from what's happening beneath the tyres. And the cabin can be a little noisy through wind, too.

But these are small beans, really. The EV5 is comfortable and capable, and without the harsh ride or too-sharp steering that can be found in some of its rivals.

We drove it for hours across all sorts of road surfaces, and in all sorts of conditions, and found very, very little to complain about.

The drive experience is, well, unremarkable. But I don’t want that to sound negative, because that's not how it's intended.

The EQS450 SUV does exactly what you expect a circa-three-tonne, premium electric SUV to do, and it does it all well.

It's powerful enough without being exhilarating, comfortable enough, and laden with enough tech to satisfy almost anyone.

It's just that it also doesn't exactly ignite the senses. But the question must be asked, what seven-seat family-focused SUV does? Few, if any.

So, surely the real test is if electrification has improved the formula here, and I'd argue that it definitely has.

For one, the EQS450 is properly whisper-quiet in the cabin, with Benz employing multiple sound-deadening techniques at once to lock out road noise. And with no pesky engine to interfere, the cabin is about as serene as they come.

The power delivery is predictably smooth and easy, too. There is no headline-stealing acceleration figure here, but the power is potent and plentiful, and more than enough for any real-world situation you might encounter.

The ride, too, is commendable. Aided by Mercedes' air suspension, it glides over all but the most broken road surfaces. And it is fitted with rear-axle steering, which really does cut down a turning circle that would otherwise surely resemble that of a cruise ship.

It feels heavy at times, though, and even the most high-tech suspension can't eliminate body roll entirely through tighter corners (physics and all that).

But unless you're really pushing – and why would you be – the cabin is calm, comfortable and cosseting.

So, exciting? Not really. But comfortable and calming, which are probably the traits its owners will value much higher.

The EQS450 SUV is yet to be ANCAP crash tested, but you can expect an extensive suite of active safety equipment, including AEB with pedestrian and cyclist detection and junction assist, adaptive cruise control, active lane keep assist, lane change assist and steering assist, traffic sign recognition and eight airbags.

The EV5 is covered by Kia’s seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, and you can prepay your servicing costs, too.

Three years will set you back $980, five years is $1535 and the full seven years will set you back $2431 ($347 per workshop visit), which is category competitive.

The Mercedes EQS450 is covered by Mercedes-Benz's five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, with servicing required every 12 months or 25,000km.

You can prepay your service costs, coming in at $2350 for three years, $3695 for four years or $4280 for five years.

The battery its covered for eight years or 160,000km.