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Road Test: Mercedes-Benz EQE 500 4MATIC, Practical EV Luxury

Forbes 2024/5/16
500 4MATIC delivered quintessentially battery-electric acceleration.
Mercedes-Benz has applied its immense engineering resource to producing electric vehicles worthy of the Mercedes 3-pointed star. EQE wearing SUV architecture is arguably the most practical, elegant, and useful battery-electric luxury vehicle available. A tall, airy greenhouse provides a beautiful and roomy interior space. The front and rear electric motors of the 500 4MATIC test vehicle delivered potent acceleration and performance in that quintessentially undramatic battery-electric way.

Mercedes EQE 500 4MATIC proved over the course of a week that in many regards electric vehicles are far superior to their internal combustion equivalents, at least here in sunny suburban California. EQE is a sophisticated luxury CUV, not a hairshirt statement, not a virtue signal for early adopters who want to prove they are somehow saving the planet. First and foremost, EQE is a Mercedes-Benz.

Mercedes has returned to Bauhaus X French Curve design principles.
In the past seven years under direction of Gordon Waggener, Mercedes has returned to the Bauhaus X French Curve design principles. Yes, a CUV jellybean, but detailing and surface development is elegant—graceful and tasteful.

Thanks to a larger battery for 2024, EQE 500 offers 269 miles of range and under certain circumstances up to 340 with a wink and a nod. EQE 500 can not only easily meet my modest daily demands with minimal home charging during the week, but more significantly can meet the rigorous daily demands of My Lovely Attorney. EQE 500 can execute her thrice-weekly commute to Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) and manage weekly in-neighborhood errands without a mandatory seven night per week charging regimen.

Lean into doorframe, then subtly dip a knee to land on a leather seat.
Front and rear seats allow taller people to lean into the doorframe, then subtly dip a knee to land on a leather seat. No stress on hips, no risk of smacking the head on a too-tight doorframe. No need for a stepstool or ladder to clamber up as with Detroit and Detroit-inspired truck-based SUVs.

If we add to our commuting calculus jaunts from DTLA to client meetings in Beverly Hills or Malibu to the north or Laguna in the far south of Orange County, then EQE 500 can in most cases return home with at least a high 2-digit and even a 3-digit margin of range still on the clock, to be plugged in overnight. No panicky nail-biting, no need to stop at public charging stations in the dark when battery and human are both exhausted and simply want to be home, no bouts of paranoia.

Center console touch surfaces provide top-level entry to important menus.
Center console touch surfaces provide top-level entry to important central screen menus. Obviously, start-stop button. Dynamic allows one to thumb-swipe through central screen menus to choose performance calibrations. EQ brings up charging and battery-related screens. Audio on/off and volume. PARK raises menus and real-time images for the parking cameras/sensors. The “squircle” to the right of center second row is a fingerprint recognition panel. This feature provoked hyperventilating social credit score threat assessment amongst all my computer nerd friends. Yes, it will store a fingerprint. Not a feature I will ever use or accept, but technology marches on.

Until arrival of the AMG variant, which is aimed at acceleration junkies like me, 500 4MATIC is the highest evolution of EQE. Acceleration is impressive but free of drama: no sturm und drang, no screaming engine, no violence as the power hits the drive system. The motors produce an electric equivalent of 402 horsepower, but as always, the key figure is torque, in this case a walloping 633 lb. ft., which charts this SUV/minivan on the borderlands of sports car and performance SUV. As measurable, the AMG variant will thrust resolutely into super-sedan and Super-SUV territory.

Front seat positioned for six foot two+. Note the exceptional foot, knee, and leg room.
Rear seats matter in a vehicle engineered for family life. Front seat positioned for my six foot two+ frame. Note the exceptional foot, knee, and leg room. No child or person under six foot four will feel pinched at all. Also note the rear wheel arch intrudes very little into the door frame, which is tall and deep. Rear doors open to about 80 degrees, further easing entrance.

Expressing their delight from the back seat, the tykes loved the smooth, gushy, and rapid gathering speed, laughing and giggling every time the two electric motors were fully unleashed. EQE vaults by dawdlers with impunity.

EQE is a pleasure to steer.
EQE shown at its press launch, in motion. EQE is a pleasure to steer. No, you don’t get the sense of weight and physical effort in the steering that one gets in a vintage car from 40 and 50 and 60 years ago. That sort of a mechanical connection is for the most part gone in our world. But in EQE one feels absolutely connected to the car, the motions and efforts at the wheel all relate in a way the human brain can understand. The brain reads all inputs well.

The little ones concluded EQE’s artificially generated sounds resemble those of Sebulba’s race pod in the Star Wars prequel “The Phantom Menace.” An electric twang under acceleration, and kush-kush-kush under braking. Artificial or not, these subtle sounds help the mind comprehend acceleration and braking far better than just the near-silent physics of Vector Dynamics 101.

Ample cargo for those with young children. Rear seats fold for Home Depot visits
Ample cargo space for those with young children. My test is always the ability to hold one or two Bugaboo strollers and all those Lands End and LL Bean canvas bags that mothers turn into child toolkits. Rear seats fold to manage Home Depot visits, when the gardener/handyman has tasked you with buying the needed supplies for a project.

Following the California skateboard template, EQE 500 has batteries slung low midships, with an electric motor mounted in the nose and another at the rear, hence “4MATIC” 4-wheel drive. That power is not just to entertain adult males who refuse to fully grow up. If changing lanes before the next light is required make a left turn, outrunning the pack is easy, a lane change accomplished in clear space.

Turbofan ventilation outlets, lit with LED.
Mercedes’ parts bin gives every vehicle a variation on these turbofan ventilation outlets, lit with LED. Placed on the “Black Mirror” Superscreen surface, these outlets are pieces of industrial art and place airflow with precision. They are a pleasure to adjust, a reminder of the quality of the car.

EV powertrains allow very long wheelbases, affording big doors that can open to 75 or 80 degrees. On EQE the rear door is a generous parallelogram, the rear wheel arch not intruding much. Because the vehicle is taller than its 4-door EQE sedan sibling, entering is a process of leaning in and slightly dipping a knee to find a comfortable leather chair. No need for a step stool as with most Detroit full-size truck-based SUVs. Tall males can enter the rear seat with only minimal head-ducking.

Mercedes has engaged excellent graphic interface designers.
The preferred performance setting for life in Los Angeles or most anywhere in coastal California. Mercedes has engaged excellent graphic interface designers. The animations, graphics and other depictions convey the Mercedes design sensibility of elegance and grace.

A point about range. Mercedes conservatively claims 269 miles of range, but the onboard calculator offered me 343 miles as a maximum from 100 percent charge, likely because most days I am scuttling along boulevards and 2-lane suburban streets, albeit with the occasional full-throttle blitz to entertain myself.

Grille features bold 3-pointed star placed in a constellation of tiny stars.
Grille panel features a bold 3-pointed star placed in a constellation of tiny 3-pointed stars. Front end has multiple sensors and cameras to assist parking and advanced cruise control.

Still, a week in the life of EQE also illustrated the significant failings of the supporting infrastructure and the need to be master of your own fate when recharging, to have home charging combined with ready access to charging at the workplace.

Discussing EQE with a former colleague, who possesses BS and MS in engineering and served as quality engineer on a highly collectible supercar, he mentioned his son in London, who drives a compact German EV most days, but keeps his older clean-diesel CUV for trips to the Midlands or the north. His son laments England’s horrific public charging facilities. His son’s experience exactly mirrors my own, except California has much bigger and broader boulevards and highways, allowing full-size vehicles like EQE.

It’s a Mercedes first, and just happens to have an electric powertrain.
Badging at base of roof A-pillar indicates an electric Mercedes. Over the past 14 years I’ve been blessed with access to many of the world’s latest and greatest electric vehicles, experiencing their evolution from the questionable 2010 Nissan LEAF that debuted at Dodger Stadium here in Los Angeles, to the best of Europe in 2022-24. In the past few years, the Germans have impressed for not only high-performance and beautifully sorted EV chassis but have also brought something new to the EV game: the extremely high build quality expected of the best European companies. It’s a Mercedes first and foremost, and just happens to have an electric powertrain.

This leads to the one and only negative, illustrated during planning for a spring break tour of Spanish missions dotting the California Central Coast. Review of charging options, including remote sections of the Central Coast, mandated a gasoline vehicle instead of EQE. Near perfect as it might be in town, EQE is not suited to long-range meandering, mostly because of charging infrastructure.

Tar strips reach the cabin as nothing more than muffled tympani strikes.
Tires are 265/40 R 21s. The multi-link air suspension easily handles this wheel and tire. Ride quality is excellent in Comfort setting. And unlike cheaper EVs developed by companies with less experience, EQE behavior over rougher roads is just like or better than one expects from any Mercedes. Tar strips and concrete heaves reach the passenger cabin as nothing more than sound, like muffled tympani strikes.

The answer is simple, and should be incorporated into governmental planning, assuming we can find politicians and regulators who are not engineering illiterates and unicorn herders. In fact, in just the past month I’ve had the perfect pairing that should serve as a systems role model for not only the government crazies here in California, but also in D.C. The new Mercedes E-class has a highly efficient gas-electric hybrid powertrain, an excellent option for longer range trips. I could use either E-class or EQE in my daily life. If My Lovely Attorney has a longer trip to a client meeting or wants a long weekend trip, well, take the E-class. The E-class eliminates any concerns about the horrible charging infrastructure—there’s enough tension on family outings without panics over charging.

Made for the happy bubbles in California.
I doubt Mercedes, or anyone else will sell a lot of electric vehicles in Nebraska or Kansas, or even the suburbs on the north and west side of Chicago of Chicago. But coastal California is its own country in many ways, and there are enough people here who can afford these cars. Maybe that’s the endgame the people in these happy bubbles can adopt electric vehicles.

Other members of my informal editorial board admit that over time EVs can potentially take up anywhere from 25 to perhaps even 40 percent of the passenger vehicle fleet, particularly here in California where conditions flatter EVs. But we unanimously agree that the all-or-nothing position of Green extremists is insanity.

Yes, it was snowing on the mountain route.
Snow over much of the mountain circuit. Skateboard battery-electric architecture combined with sophisticated multi-link air suspension ensures exceptional rear passenger space. The rear seats are roomy, even for those above median height. This is a practical daily life architecture, polar opposite of the 2+2 4-door architecture of that other excellent German EV, the Porsche Taycan Turbo S, which is in fact a hypercar with rear doorlets. In EQE, the rear seats are very useful.

The answer is the portfolio approach that the best car companies have mapped out: EVs for urban/suburban duties, gas-electric hybrids, pure gasoline for that small percentage of high-performance and off-roading vehicles that in fact log very few annual miles, and eventually hydrogen fuel cells for everything utilitarian from Class 8 tractor trailers to UPS delivery trucks and super-duty pickups. That is a template that almost any rational American can accept.

EQE embodies Mercedes’ elegant 21st Century design philosophy that melds Bauhaus with French Curve. EQE is an impressive Mercedes-Benz luxury vehicle that just happens to also have an electric propulsion system.

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