• Auto123 gets in a first drive of the 2024 Mercedes-Maybach EQS 680 SUV.
Nanaimo, BC – This isn't the first time the EQ magicians have waved their wand and transformed a Mercedes. There are EQBs, EQEs and EQSs (sedans and SUVs) already on the road. All-electric EQ models are even found within Mercedes-AMG, the group's ultra-performance division.
Mercedes’ eagerness to embrace sustainable mobility is evident in its commitment to electrify all its divisions by 2030, fueled by a €40 billion investment.
But the Mercedes-Maybach EQS 680 SUV represents a first. It's the first time the market sees an ultra-luxury SUV relying on electricity to move forward, charge ahead and impress. The company’s representatives on hand for this first-drive opportunity on ever-beautiful Vancouver Island were quick to point out this launch comes before Rolls-Royce, Bentley or any of the other ultra-luxury brands introduce their own electric SUVs.
They're working on it, but Benz has beaten them to it, and that's what counts.
And speaking of counting…
I drove the 2024 Mercedes-Maybach EQS 680 SUV the often-enchanting 207 km from Nanaimo to Tofino, to check out its qualities and flush out any possible irritants. But I can't tell you the price, because the brand's representatives weren't prepared to reveal it to us. That announcement shouldn’t be long in coming, though – the company hopes to offer its latest model to Canadians by the end of the year.
Anyways, if I were to hazard a guess, I’d probably guess something around $300,000. That’s based on the “regular” Mercedes-Benz EQS 580 4Matic SUV starting at $159,000 and the not-yet-electric Rolls-Royce Cullinan going for north of half-a-million dollars.
Safe to say, it will be “pricy”.
And what will buyers get for that tidy sum? Well, this:
Two electric motors, a combined output of 649 hp and 700 lb-ft of torque, three tons of vehicle given blistering acceleration (from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.3 seconds), standard 4Matic all-wheel drive and even directional rear wheels (up to 10 degrees in tight parking spaces).
Also air suspension and adaptive dampers (no matter the speed, no matter the crevices on the road, this SUV floats over them whilst sticking to the asphalt), a 108.4-kW lithium-ion battery, consumption of around 23 kWh/100 km, a range of 530 km and half an hour to recover 80 percent battery charge.
I put it through its paces during our (too-short) test drive, in a way that no sane owner ever will, and I enjoyed it so much that I dreamt I found a winning lottery ticket in my jacket pocket from last spring.
Wooosh! goes the SUV when you floor the right pedal and sink back into a chair designed by an osteopath but plump as a down jacket.
Vrp-vrp-vrp-vrp! go the 21-inch Pirelli Scorpions as they run over the warning grooves scratched into the asphalt. That’s pretty much the only exterior sound that dares to invite itself into a cabin otherwise isolated from the outside world like a Carmelite convent. To that end, the designers fitted a shelf under the rear window which, in addition to housing the speakers, completely isolates the cabin from the trunk, thus enhancing the desired cocoon-like effect.
Zzzzzzz! goes the passenger, shamelessly taking advantage of the extraordinary comfort of the Mercedes-Maybach EQS 680 SUV to enjoy a siesta.
Interior of the 2024 Mercedes-Maybach EQS 680 SUV
This is the raison d’être of this unusual automotive proposition: to ensure enjoyment of a car’s cabin as if it were the only thing that mattered in this world.
This Maybach “truck” may have a longer wheelbase than a GLS (3210 mm vs. 3135), but it doesn't want anything to do with three rows of seats. The living space is devoted to the occupants of the two captain's chairs (which may give way to a bench seat for more family-minded buyers, but that would be surprising given most folks buying this thing are used to the comforts of life in business class, if not in their private jet.
Leather, glass, wood and metal intertwine in every direction to create an orgy of sensual shapes that are a feast for the eyes, yes, but the other senses as well. In front of the driver is the giant Hyperscreen that stretches from door to door. In the centre, the navigation display is so realistic it looks like it's been drawn on the ground by an escorting drone, and it’s one of oh, 1001 functions available. The left side displays information more useful to the driver, such as remaining range; on the right; the right side is for the passenger, who can tap a destination and then drag it to the centre for the driver's benefit, or watch a video (that pauses whenever a sensor detects the driver's eyes have drifted away from the road to venture where they shouldn't).
Hidden behind this festival of LEDs and icons, a diffuser releases puffs of 12 Mood, the fragrance designed especially for this vehicle, at programmable intervals.
As for the rear seats, let's get out the dictionary of superlatives.
Work or sleep?
Whatever you need to do, know there are two 11.6-inch screens, wireless headphones, a removable mini-tablet to control so many things (many I haven't yet learned to do with my own iPad), a double sunroof and two other tablets buried in a cavernous console that can be used to work, eat or play cards.
Of course, the seats are fabulous, especially the one on the right, because if you click on the right buttons (and if the seat in front of you is unoccupied), you get a first-class berth, a fridge that begs to hold nothing less than champagne, as suggested by the two silver flutes resting in their rack and which, once filled with bubbles, stand up and stay up thanks to a clever clip system at the edge of the console.
Can’t fail to mention Burmester's incredible 15-speaker 4D Surround sound system, and you'll understand why when you make set the massage system working your back to do more than randomly inflate and deflate, but rather do it to the rhythm of your chosen music. There's nothing better than a bass drum in the lumbar region or a cymbal in the shoulder blades!
That kind of pleasure presents the owner with a majorly first-world problem: do I drive, or do I hire a driver? Decisions, decisions.
Anyways, buyers of the Mercedes-Maybach EQS 680 SUV have access to solutions that elude ordinary mortals. When I pointed out that even with the optional cooler removed from the cargo area, the space available (440 litres) was still quite meagre, I was told most customers will likely have their luggage transported via another vehicle in their collection.
You know, the vehicle carrying the executive assistant, the cook, the gardener, the personal trainer, the guru, the nanny and the doggies!
A few complaints
Well, let's not exaggerate. Let's call it a bit of constructive criticism. I'm thinking first and foremost of the running boards that encircle the sides of the Mercedes-Maybach EQS 680 SUV. In my humble opinion, they're pretty and all but they’re unnecessary. At least if they were retractable, you would avoid the risk of soiled trouser edges and stilettos that the rainy weather of Vancouver Island made all too apparent to us!
What's more, when dusk falls, the interior lights up, which is cool and all but say goodbye to discretion and privacy. I mean when I tried to photograph it, the over abundance of colours, lights, textures and shapes flummoxed my iPhone that didn't know where to focus.
It's fair to say this: the EQS 680 is ‘too much’, both as in ‘Too Much!’ and as in, no really, it’s too much.
Frankly, we're a long way from the more-sober traditions of a Rolls or a Bentley. But who knows, it's quite possible the cabin's greater playfulness will appeal to a younger clientele, which will make Stuttgart's bosses very happy.
By the by
Car brands, we all know, like to have spokespeople, and they like to sponsor events. Mercedes-Maybach has just announced its dance partner: Space Perspective.
By the end of 2024, if all goes well (after pre-tests, tests and all the anal-retentive-but-so-necessary re-checking and re-calculating that will avoid a tragedy similar to the recent Titan one), the company co-founded by Jane Poynter and Taber MacCallum will start sending people into space. Well, they’ll send them about 100,000 feet, or 30 km up in the sky. (Did you know 99% of our atmosphere is within 31 km of the surface of the Earth? Well know you do).
The Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin projects, respectively the hobbies of billionaires Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos, will go three times as high, but with rather more explosive methods and making much more physical demands of its customers.
Space Perspective will strap one captain and eight passengers to each ride, and to get on it all you need is to be 18-or-above have $125,000 USD to fork over. Money received and IDs checked, the company will send its carbon-neutral capsule starward using a balloon filled with hydrogen.
Exactly what Maybach will be doing with Space Perspective remains to be defined. What we do know is that space tourists will be driven around before lift-off in a Mercedes-Maybach EQS, and that Maybach's designers will have a say in the decor of the glass pod, which will include a buffet and a bar around which passengers can quench their thirst.
Keyword: 2024 Mercedes-Maybach EQS 680 SUV First Drive: A First Electric SUV for Those With Unlimited Means