Get on the highway and you can really stretch the legs of the EQE SUV. Floor the A-pedal and you are greeted by the instant acceleration that EVs are so famous for.
Driving the Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV
The Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV 500 4MATIC gets individual motors for each axle (front and rear). Their combined output is 402 BHP and a whopping 858 Nm. From a standstill, Mercedes claims that the car will do 0-100 km/h in 4.9 seconds and hit a limited top speed of 210 km/h.
You do get a start/stop button unlike some of the recent electric cars where you can just sit in the driver’s seat with the key in your pocket and drive off. Press the start button on the centre console with your foot on the brake pedal and you will get an indication on the MID that the car is ready to drive. Switch the gear selector to D and lift your foot off the brake pedal and you start moving smoothly in an eerie silence. With a light foot on the accelerator, the drive experience is extremely smooth and refined in the city. You can also choose to have one-pedal driving which is a boon in bumper-to-bumper traffic conditions. Frontal visibility is good, but the thick A-pillars create big blind spots on the sides. You have to be conscious of this while driving around in the city. The power available is way more than needed to amble around town. You can not only close gaps quickly but also overtake slow cars with ease.
Get on the highway and you can really stretch the legs of the EQE SUV. Floor the A-pedal and you are greeted by the instant acceleration that EVs are so famous for. Yes, you will instantly be pushed back in your seat, and you’ll never get tired of this. On the narrow roads of Gulmarg, we found ourselves flooring the accelerator every time there was an empty stretch of road. Of course, the car feels very relaxed cruising at triple-digit speeds, and you can easily pass other cars on the highway by just flexing your right foot.
The Mercedes EQE SUV gets DYNAMIC SELECT programs or drive modes to choose from. You have Eco, Comfort, Sport, Individual, and Off-Road modes. The different programs alter characteristics of the power delivery, suspension, steering and traction control.
Eco Mode – This is the mode you will want to be in if you want to maximise range. There’s enough power on offer and while the delivery is a lot more linear, you can still keep up with the traffic and make quick overtakes as and when needed. The steering is the lightest in Eco mode.
Comfort – This is the default mode when you start the car and is a perfect balance between Eco and Sport modes. The throttle response is a little sharper as compared to the Eco mode and is great for 95% of driving conditions.
Sport – The mode when you want to have some fun. The acceleration in this mode is noticeably quicker and it’s like all the senses of the car are heightened. The AIRMATIC suspension lowers the body by 0.8 inches at high speeds when in this mode. Surprisingly, Mercedes has tuned the low-speed drive beautifully in the Sport mode and while the throttle response is sharp, it’s never jerky. You can drive around smoothly in Sport mode as well.
Individual – This is the mode where you can mix and match all the settings as per your liking.
Off-Road – While no one would want to take this Rs. 1.4 crore SUV off road, it is equipped with a few features that would help during the rare occasion. The car can be raised by 1 inch in off-road mode. The ESP in off-road mode can be activated and deactivated to limit or allow slip on wheels.
Regenerative Braking
The EQE SUV is equipped with paddle shifters which can be used to adjust the level of regeneration. There are three levels of regeneration – Zero, Medium and High. The regeneration at the medium level is comfortable for most driving conditions. High regeneration is when you want to extract maximum range, but it’s very strong and the drive experience gets jerky whenever you lift off the accelerator.
Noise, Vibration & Harshness (NVH)
As expected, the cabin of the EQE SUV is very quiet. Even when you floor the accelerator, the motor’s whirring is barely audible inside the cabin. Mercedes has done an excellent job of isolating the outside noise and you barely hear any road or wind noise while driving around. It’s only when you go above 100 km/h that you get a hint of wind noise.
Range
The Mercedes EQE SUV has a 90.56 kWh Lithium-ion battery pack that gives it a WLTP-certified range of 465 – 550 km. You can expect a realistic range of 450-500 km with normal driving. Given the rising demand for EVs, there are plenty of charging stations popping up everywhere, which ought to take care of range anxiety. Mercedes also has over 36 locations with fast charging options out of which 21 have 60 kW chargers and the remaining 15 have 180 kW chargers.
Charging
With the EQE SUV, Mercedes provides an 11 kW wall box charger that can charge the car from 10% to 100% in 9.5 hours. With a 100 kW DC fast charger, the battery can be charged from 10% to 80% in 32 minutes.
Suspension
Ride Comfort
The EQE SUV is equipped with AIRMATIC air suspension with an integrated adaptive damping system. The system can adjust all four wheels separately to provide a comfortable ride. The air suspension also lowers the ride height at higher speeds to lower the centre of gravity. Not only does this look great on paper, but even in real-world conditions, the suspension manages to offer a comfortable ride quality. At slow speeds, the suspension is quite absorbent even with the 20-inch wheels. Small to medium-sized potholes are handled nicely but you can feel the large potholes inside the cabin. There is a hint of underlying stiffness to the suspension system, but it’s never uncomfortable.
Handling & Dynamics
At highway speeds, the EQE remains planted and doesn’t feel floaty. Over the undulating roads in Gulmarg, the suspension felt a bit busy. Going over a sharp bump at high speed, the car settled down quickly without excessive vertical movement. Carry some speed into a corner and the EQE surprisingly holds its line well. There is a bit of body roll, but it’s well-controlled. You do however feel the bulk of the car when in corners which is something enthusiasts might not like. In contrast, the 4MATIC system provides excellent grip and keeps the car planted in corners. Even on wet roads, the 4MATIC system along with the Goodyear tyres manage to provide excellent grip and the car never felt nervous. All in all, while the EQE SUV is fast, it’s not very sporty in terms of handling and has more neutral characteristics.
Steering
The electric power steering unit is very user-friendly and will be appreciated by most owners. It weighs up nicely and you can also change the driving modes to adjust it to your liking. It’s consistent in terms of feel and there’s no twitchiness at highway speeds. When on twisty roads, the steering feels direct, but the feedback is limited. Rear-wheel steering would completely transform the handling of the car.
Braking
Equipped with disc brakes all around, the EQE SUV’s braking is very sharp. The car stops without much drama from high speeds. The bite point is a little high which takes some time getting used to, but the pedal feel is consistent.
Continue reading the discussion on the Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV on our forum.
Keyword: Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV : Our observations after a day of driving