Mercedes-Benz EQE vs Mercedes-Benz Eqs450

What's the difference?

The Mercedes-Benz EQE350 4Matic is an electric sedan that will comfortably house your family. My son really liked this one, the ambient lighting in particular!

It has enough power to satisfy the drivers out there and a driving range that will make you feel at ease. But the boot is small and this car will suit families whose kids are out of the pram stage best. I really like the safety and standard features on the EQE but the ongoing costs are a bit expensive for an EV.

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.

Love it or leave it, the swoopy design of the EQE sedan is decidedly modern with a shiny black grille that features a repeated Mercedes-Benz star motif and the aerodynamic covers on the 20-inch alloy wheels.

The nose is snubby and dips down too low for it to look sexy but the rear earns some design points with its elegant proportions, 3D ‘helix’ LED lights and cute spoiler.

The chrome accents around the windows and the illuminated flush door handles add some pizzazz, too.

I’m not a massive fan of its exterior looks but the interior is gorgeous! The dashboard features an 12.8-inch touchscreen multimedia system and a 12.3-inch digital instrument panel that pull your focus with their crystal-clear graphics but they need to, because the dashboard has a whole lotta empty space which looks a tad boring.

The side air vents are styled like jet turbines but are a little finicky to manoeuvre.

The black suede-like headliner creates a plush aesthetic but when you open the panoramic sunroof, the cabin is downright airy.

The door panels, which double as a grab handle, house the window and side mirror controls and its super handy to have the seat-configurator and memory functions on the door itself, rather than the side of the seat. This positioning makes them much easier to see!

Mercedes has added LED ambient-strip lighting around a lot of the interior, including the front seats, which has a massive wow factor at night time.

The ambient lighting can be adjusted up to 64-ways and also features a dynamic element where the lights pulse (under certain selections) when you accelerate. 

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.

Mercedes uses the term ‘saloon’ for its sedans and this term highlights the space each passenger will enjoy in the EQE sedan! There is plenty of head and legroom up front and you don’t feel like you’re on top of your co-pilot, either.

The electric front seats are comfortable with their adjustable lumbar control and extendable under-thigh support. The kinetic function on both also make longer journeys an absolute pleasure.

The rear seats are well-padded and you get limo-like legroom but the swoopy roofline does cut into the headspace. I’m comfortable enough with my 168cm (5'6") height but someone with a few inches over six-foot may not be.

You’re spoiled for choice when it comes to individual storage options with large middle and centre consoles, the latter can be made even larger because the two cupholders are retractable.

There is a massive shelf underneath them that has a handy elastic strap for larger items, like a handbag. The glove box is on the shallow side but both doors have a drink bottle holder and storage bin.  

In the rear, individual storage is also decent with two map pockets, two retractable cupholders in the fold-down armrest, as well as a drink bottle holder and storage bin in each door.

The other amenities in the rear are good with a couple of reading lights and directional air vents. I would have preferred to have seen climate control, too, but there’s enough here to satisfy.

The technology looks high-end but is relatively simple to operate once you get used to the Mercedes-Benz operating system.

The touchscreen multimedia screen has haptic feedback, which just means it vibrates when you touch it, and built-in satellite navigation with an augmented reality feature.

The digital instrument panel is customisable and the coloured head-up display is easy to see.

It is simple to connect to the wireless Apple CarPlay and there is also wired Android Auto.

Charging options are fantastic throughout the car with four USB-C ports and a wireless charging pad to choose from up front.

However, it’s annoying to use the charging pad if you’re also using the cupholders as its awkward to try and get a phone in and out of the housing. In the rear there are another two USB-C ports.

For the class, the boot isn’t massive at 430L and the wheels do cut into the width but it’s been big enough for my shopping errands.

You get a tyre puncture repair kit in the EQE sedan and I like the way you can electrically fold the rear seats if you need extra storage space. Having the hands-free powered boot lid is very convenient. 

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 350 4Matic is an all-wheel drive with two electric motors that have a combined power output of 215kW and a massive 765Nm of torque. The lithium-ion battery has a large 90.5kWh capacity.

The 350 4Matic has a 0-100km/h sprint time of only 6.3-seconds but it feels gusty and you get a tummy-sucking sensation when you have to put your foot down.

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 350 4Matic has an official energy consumption figure of 17.6kWh. My average sat round 16.9kWh and that is after a lot of open road driving. Happy with that.

With a driving range of up to 590km, I didn’t feet any range anxiety!

The charging port is a Type 2 CCS which will accept up to 170kW on DC, which means you can charge it from 10 - 80 per cent in 33 minutes. On an 11kW system, you can see that time jump to just under 10hrs.

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.

With the amount of power the 350 4Matic model has, it’s no wonder I enjoy driving it! The motor is responsive and the car doesn’t shift around when you have to put your foot down, either.

The EQE handles beautifully on the road where it feels stable and sure of itself. It tackles corners without breaking a sweat and the steering is crisp.  

The ride comfort is high quality with suspension that smooths out bumps without feeling floaty. The cabin space is quiet even at higher speeds.

There are three levels of regenerative braking – none, normal or strong – ‘strong’ enables a one-pedal driving experience.

It’s responsive enough that you’re confident using it in stop/start city traffic but it wigs me out how the brake pedal moves by itself when activated!

I have kept the level at the default ‘normal’ setting but do tend to turn it off whenever I need to reverse because it can cause a ‘bunny hop’ effect at lower speeds.

The EQE is super easy to park with a clear 360-degree camera system, as well as, front and rear parking sensors. 

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.

On the EQE you’ll enjoy a five-year/unlimited km warranty and the battery is covered by a 10-year or up to 250,000km warranty (whichever occurs first) – which is better than most.

You can pre-purchase either a three-, four-, or five-year servicing plan and the five-year plan costs a flat $3555, or an average of $711 per service.

That’s quite expensive for an EV and the servicing intervals are more in line with a fuel-based car than an EV at every 12-months or 15,000km, whichever occurs first.

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.