Mercedes-Benz Eqs450 vs BMW M8

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.

The right lane on Aussie freeways is occasionally referred to as the ‘fast lane’, which is laughable because the highest legal speed in the entire country is 130km/h (81mph). And that’s only on a few stretches in the Top End. Other than that, 110km/h (68mph) is all you’re getting.

Sure, a 'buck thirty' isn’t hanging around, but the subject of this review is a 460kW (625hp) four-door missile, capable of accelerating from 0-100 km/h in 3.2 seconds, and on to a maximum velocity somewhat in excess of our legal limit. 

Fact is, the BMW M8 Competition Gran Coupe is born and bred in Germany, where the autobahn’s left lane is serious territory, with open speed sections, and the car itself the only thing holding you back. In this case, to no less than 305km/h (190mph)!

Which begs the question, isn’t steering this machine onto an Aussie highway like cracking a walnut with a twin-turbo, V8-powered sledgehammer?

Well, yes, But by that logic a whole bunch of high-end, ultra high-performance cars would instantly become surplus to requirements here. Yet they continue to sell, in healthy numbers.  

So, there’s got to be more to it. Time to investigate.