Huge output and high velocity for the stonking new all-electric Mercedes-AMG EQE 53 SUV, but it’s an unusual mix
- How much does the Mercedes-AMG EQE 53 SUV cost?
- What equipment comes with the Mercedes-AMG EQE 53 SUV?
- How safe is the Mercedes-AMG EQE 53 SUV?
- What technology does the Mercedes-AMG EQE 53 SUV feature?
- What powers the Mercedes-AMG EQE 53 SUV?
- How far can the Mercedes-AMG EQE 53 SUV go on a charge?
- What is the Mercedes-AMG EQE 53 SUV like to drive?
- How good is the Mercedes-AMG EQE 53 SUV off-road?
- What is the Mercedes-AMG EQE 53 SUV like inside?
- Should I buy a Mercedes-AMG Model EQE 53 SUV?
As Mercedes-Benz embraces electrification with its EQ models, inevitably its AMG performance department has to follow suit, and the Mercedes-AMG EQE 53 4MATIC+ SUV is the first SUV to mate the AMG badge to an EV powertrain. It’s difficult to argue against the mighty 505kW and 1000Nm output produced by the AMG-specific electric motors, or the way in which the EQE 53 SUV defies its bulk with incredible pace. But all EVs feel brisk, and otherwise there’s little to truly distinguish this model as an AMG over lesser variants in the line-up. With an anticipated $220,000-plus sticker price when it arrives later this year, that might prove to be a bit of a problem.
How much does the Mercedes-AMG EQE 53 SUV cost?
SUV versus sedan, electric powertrain versus high-performance combustion engine, how much are you prepared to pay? Prices have yet to be confirmed, but we’re expecting the 2023 Mercedes-AMG EQE 53 SUV to carry a similar premium over the GLE 53 as the equivalent EQE electric sedan does over the conventional E 53 four-door.
That brings us to $220,900 plus on-road costs, given the GLE 53 starts at $179,869 plus ORCs. The EQE 53 sedan is currently set at $214,900 plus ORCs, which is $41,031 above the E 53.
Mercedes-Benz Australia may deem the EQE SUV body to attract a bigger premium, but we’ll wait and see – that figure will be at least around the mark of its closest rival, the BMW iX M60 (from $228,400 plus ORCs).
In any case, there will be plenty of options to push the price up further, including the AMG Dynamic Plus Package with boost function that you really need to unleash the electric SUV’s full potential.
Do so and you’ll give the EQE 53 4MATIC+ SUV its full 505kW/1000Nm outputs; it otherwise makes do with 460kW/950Nm. In the sedan, the package adds $7400.
Mercedes-AMG hasn’t bothered to quote a 0-100km/h time without that Dynamic Plus Package, which speaks volumes about its expectations among typical AMG customers. To achieve the ‘up to’ 3.5sec 0-100km/h time with that option, you’ll need to set it to Race Start within the driver modes, where everything’s briefly dialled up to 11 to allow it its time-bending party trick.
The Dynamic Plus Package also increases the EQE 53 SUV’s top speed by 20km/h, from 220km/h to 240km/h, which might be useful if you’re driving it on the autobahns in its mother country.
What equipment comes with the Mercedes-AMG EQE 53 SUV?
Naturally, the standard equipment for this high-performance flagship is focused on adding performance and dynamism to the 2023 Mercedes-AMG EQE 53 SUV.
As such, it comes with AMG Performance 4MATIC+ fully variable four-wheel drive, AMG Ride Control air suspension with AMG roll stabilisation, and rear-axle steering.
There’s an AMG Sound Experience, too, which aims to add some aural accompaniment to the EQE 53 SUV’s mighty performance.
Visually, the EQE 53 SUV is distinguished from mere Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV relations by some AMG-specific enhancements inside and out.
There’s an AMG design black panel front grille with vertical struts in chrome, AMG Affalterbach badging on the bonnet, a differing front apron and rear diffuser as well as AMG alloy wheel designs.
Inside, it’s more of the same with AMG seats and trim with lots of AMG badging within the instrument and infotainment screens, including a naff graphic representation of an IWC watch.
These screens contain AMG-tweaked options and designs which relate to the specific AMG drive modes and functionality.
Like any AMG there’s a degree of personalisation via cost options, with things like the AMG Night Package for darker trim in dark and black chrome, AMG carbon-fibre trim possibilities and greater stopping power via AMG’s ceramic brakes.
The standard MBUX screen set-up can be replaced by the MBUX Hyperscreen, this curving from A-pillar to A-pillar and featuring three large screens – one being the instruments, the other the main central infotainment screen and the final one in front of the front seat passenger.
If tech’s your thing, the Hyperscreen is impressive, but there’s a lot of duplication. Our test car, which also came with a head-up display, allowed no less than four ways to follow the navigation…
Other options include things like a heated steering wheel and an AMG Track Pace ‘virtual race engineer’ which is a free software download. Then, of course, there’s the AMG Dynamic Plus Package discussed in the previous section, which is a requirement for the full EQE 53 4MATIC+ experience.
As with its Mercedes-Benz relations, the EQE 53 should benefit from a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty, with additional 10-year/250,000km coverage in relation to the battery.
How safe is the Mercedes-AMG EQE 53 SUV?
AMG might be the performance division of Mercedes-Benz, but there are no compromises in relation to safety.
There wouldn’t be enough letters in a tin of Alphabetti Spaghetti to cover all the acronyms relating to safety with the 2023 Mercedes-AMG EQE 53 SUV, with A for ‘Active’ and ‘Assist’ being particularly in demand.
It’ll keep you in lane, brake in an emergency, alert you if you’re drowsy, tell you the speed limits and plenty more. If that’s not enough to avoid an impact, the plentiful airbags should lessen it.
The EQE SUV has yet to be independently crash tested by either ANCAP or Euro NCAP, but the EQE sedan, with which the EQE SUV shares the majority of its structure, assist systems and suchlike, has sailed through these tests with a maximum five-star overall rating.
What technology does the Mercedes-AMG EQE 53 SUV feature?
The 2023 Mercedes-AMG EQE 53 SUV is positively dripping in technology, as you’d anticipate from a top-of-the-line performance model.
Some of it feels like overkill if we’re being honest, with the seemingly countless ways to personalise the many screens, drive options, drive sounds and the rest all falling pretty much into the set-and-forget category.
With the absence, if you choose, of much in the way of sounds from the drivetrain, the possibility of Dolby Atmos audio is welcome, this altering the usual stereo right-left dynamics for a more immersive 360-degree experience, adding a new dimension to favourite tunes. It’s impressive.
If only the AMG Sound Experience was similarly so, this giving the EQE 53 SUV voice, inside and out. Using speakers this attempts to deliver a performance soundscape, but in reality it all sounds odd and contrived, with weird electric noises, pulsing and resonance combining for an unconvincing experience.
What powers the Mercedes-AMG EQE 53 SUV?
Just as it has done with combustion engines, AMG engineers have been busy developing their own versions of existing motors to suit particular performance goals and characteristics, in this case for the 2023 Mercedes-AMG 53 SUV.
The two permanently excited synchronous motors, one per axle, deliver a maximum output of 505kW and 1000Nm when in Race Start mode, with AMG revisions to the e-motors allowing that higher peak output.
The motors have additional cooling to enable their performance, with AMG-developed cooling circuits and fin designs as well as a water lance in the rotor within the motor to cool it.
The drive modes directly affect the output you’re offered, with the 4MATIC+ divvying out the power to the axle where it’s best exploited.
In Slippery mode, those motors deliver only 50 per cent of their power, for 230kW, Comfort upping that to 80 per cent or 368kW, Sport being 90 per cent and 414kW, with Sport+ being 460kW – 100%.
Race Start with Boost function remains the same as Sport+, unless you’ve optioned the Dynamic Plus Package, which boosts to 110 per cent for that headline 505kW output with its accompanying 1000Nm of torque.
Powering those motors is a 90.6kWh battery pack, which has also been AMG-optimised, with differing cooling, pre-heating and cabling to accommodate the differing draw and regeneration that the AMG version here demands.
How far can the Mercedes-AMG EQE 53 SUV go on a charge?
If you avoid those Race Starts in the 2023 Mercedes-AMG EQE 53 SUV, not only will your neck muscles thank you for it, but you’ll go further on a charge too.
Mercedes-AMG claims a WLTP-tested range of between 407-455km, with energy consumption of 23.0-25.6kWh/100km.
Driven in a slightly more AMG manner than those WLTP tests, you should still comfortably be able to achieve 300km-plus.
With the possibility to charge at a DC rate of up to 170kW, if you find a fast-charger on your travels then topping up that battery should be quick too.
What is the Mercedes-AMG EQE 53 SUV like to drive?
And here’s the crux of the matter: it’s fast and very capable on winding roads, but there’s very little that screams AMG about the driving experience with the 2023 Mercedes-AMG EQE 53 SUV.
There’s very little that whispers it, even. Indeed, if you weren’t in an interior festooned with AMG references, you could well be in any fast electric SUV.
That’s problematic, because AMG customers are likely to have certain expectations in relation to the brand moving the game on from its ‘mere’ Mercedes-Benz relations, and EV rivals, and it’s debatable here whether it’s achieved that.
Despite feeling more trim line than a genuinely distinct proposition, there’s no denying the EQE 53 SUV uses its sizeable technical arsenal to deliver agility and poise that’s impressive for such a weighty vehicle.
It does so, though, without any real engagement, or incentive to explore what it’s capable of, however lofty the limits actually prove.
On winding roads around Malibu, the EQE 53 SUV can make indecent progress, but there’s always a feeling of physics taking over in relation to its weight, and that the EV-specific Michelin Pilot Sport tyres are working pretty hard to keep things in check.
The 48-volt stabilisation system clearly works, but the EQE 53 4MATIC+ actually feels nicer to drive when it’s in one of its softer dynamic modes, where there’s a little bit of body lean in the bends.
Similarly, while the rear-wheel steering system adds agility, its efforts do feel a touch artificial, which does little to incentivise you to driving it like you usually would with an AMG.
Plentiful opportunity to explore the differing drive possibilities more often than not sees you defaulting to the Comfort mode, which isn’t short of pace and allows the chassis some compliance that removes some of the compromises that the more sporting modes bring.
In the Individual mode you can have sharper acceleration and the greater power from the motors, allied to softer suspension.
The most involving aspect of the drive proves to be using the steering wheel-mounted paddles to modify the regeneration from the drivetrain, from one-pedal mode with maximum regeneration, to none, where the EQE 53 SUV will sail along for considerable distances using no power at all.
Fun in an EV kind of way, then, if not necessarily an AMG one…
How good is the Mercedes-AMG EQE 53 SUV off-road?
It says SUV in the name and has four-wheel drive, but the 2023 Mercedes-AMG EQE 53 4MATIC+ SUV isn’t built to go off-road.
That’s not to say it wouldn’t manage a bit of light work off the tarmac if required, but this is very much an SUV that’s aimed at on-road driving and performance.
It can tow, though, with Mercedes-AMG quoting 1800/750kg braked/unbraked towing weights, though do so and you’ll hammer the potential range.
What is the Mercedes-AMG EQE 53 SUV like inside?
In line with current Mercedes-Benz interiors, how the 2023 Mercedes-AMG EQE 53 SUV presents itself depends on your option choices.
Without the Hyperscreen dominating the cabin, it’s neat and tidy, with some lovely detailing around things like the air vents. The Hyperscreen adds a lot of technology real-estate, which, depending on your preferences, will either please and amuse or distract and confuse.
Certainly, the large, expansive black screen cover does get covered in fingerprints, though so too does the central screen with the more conventional set-up.
AMG seats, plenty of interior lighting options and good-quality materials throughout feel good, though the classic luxury and performance vibe from Merc-AMG does feel a little bit weighted these days in a glitzy-disco look (particularly at night), which does cheapen the overall ambience somewhat.
Should I buy a Mercedes-AMG Model EQE 53 SUV?
If you must have the first AMG-fettled high-riding EV, or simply want the fastest version of the new Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV, then, yes, you should place an order for the incoming 2023 Mercedes-AMG EQE 53 SUV.
But if you’re after some kind of bombastic AMG, then don’t.
It’s an impressive all-rounder that’s quick and extraordinarily capable, but it achieves all that while not delivering an AMG feel.
That’s an understandably difficult question for Mercedes-AMG to answer as it transitions to an EV future, and one which on evidence here has yet to be resolved.
We’d save the AMG’s outlay and opt for one of its lesser EQE SUV relations instead, which will be every bit as capable day-to-day, if not quite so quick…
2023 Mercedes-AMG EQE 53 4MATIC+ SUV at a glance:
Price: $220,900 estimated (plus on-road costs)
Available: Final quarter 2023
Powertrain: Two permanently excited synchronous motors
Output: 460kW/950Nm (505kW/1000Nm with AMG Dynamic Plus pack)
Transmission: Single-speed reduction gear
Battery: 90.6kWh lithium-ion (useable)
Range: 407-455km (WLTP)
Energy consumption: 25.6-23.0kWh/100km (WLTP)
Safety rating: Not tested
Keyword: Mercedes-AMG EQE 53 SUV 2023 Review – International