Mercedes-Benz Eqs450 vs Audi Q8 E-Tron

What's the difference?

The EV revolution is bringing plenty of firsts, and this big electric behemoth is yet another one. Meet the EQS450, which Mercedes describes as its first "electric luxury full-size SUV with seven seats".

That is a bit of a mouthful though, right? So let’s shortcut that a bit, shall we? 

What you really need to know is that this is one of the few proper seven-seat electric SUVs on sale in Australia, so it will — a little surprisingly — end up being compared with the increasingly premium Kia and its EV9 when it launches in November.

So what does this electric answer to a high-riding S-Class bring to the table? Well, lots of luxury, of course.

Things that have had a name change AFTER they’ve become famous…

Okay… there’s Kanye West’s switch to Ye, Twitter’s rebranding to X and now this – the Audi Q8 e-tron.

As the brand’s first production EV, it used to be known simply as Audi e-tron. But that was confusing, because – Porsche Taycan-based GT and RS sports sedans aside ­– every electrified vehicle that the company has made before and since wears e-tron as a suffix.

Beyond new badging, the Q8 e-tron also brings a facelift and improvements underneath, to better challenge the BMW iX, Jaguar I-Pace and Mercedes EQC and EQE large electric SUVs, among others.

How does the Ingolstadt EV fare? Let’s find out.