Verdict
Escondido, California –
Mercedes is a blue-chip type of firm, be it -Benz, -AMG, or -Maybach. The automaker builds autos in dozens of various segments and value factors, however regardless of the varied lineup, most Mercedes really feel as valuable as their Silver Arrow nickname would recommend.
The 2024 Mercedes-AMG EQE SUV is not any exception general, with the identical easy thrust and daring, futuristic styling that’s turn into emblematic of the automaker’s electrical autos. For starters, it’s outrageously highly effective, with 617 horsepower in regular driving however 677 hp when launching from a cease utilizing the silly-named AMG Race Begin function. The AMG-ified EQE SUV additionally boasts some fairly slick in-cabin tech, in addition to a very good quantity of area and a fairly easy journey on the freeway. Push it onerous and a number of the gilded sheen begins to uninteresting, however AMG’s first electrical SUV continues to be fairly darn shiny, all issues thought-about.
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Easily Speedy
The EQE SUV’s transition from mild-mannered to wild-haired isn’t vastly apparent, styling-wise, however that’s a part of AMG’s attraction. The form of the entrance bumper, facet skirts, and rear diffuser are largely the identical as they’re on the EQE500 SUV, though the AMG swaps in gloss black components on the decrease physique to set itself aside. The most important visible indicators are the Panamericana-inspired vertical struts that break up the fake grille on the entrance finish. There are additionally some AMG-specific wheel designs – no shock there.
Inside, the AMG EQE SUV (say that 5 instances quick) will get a brand new steering wheel with a thicker rim and extra aggressive spokes, and the seats get model-specific stitched accents – whether or not you select the usual MB-Tex/microfiber upholstery or the elective Nappa leather-based of my tester. The Affalterbach crest showing on the nostril of the automobile can also be embossed into the headrests, with petite AMG badges showing on the seatbacks. However as on the outside, the myriad particulars solely avail themselves when you’re trying shut. In any other case, this cabin shares a lot with its non-AMG sibling, although that’s no dangerous factor when you discover its futurism interesting (which I do).
Hitting Warp
That subtlety doesn’t imply the spirits of AMG founders Hans Aufrecht and Erhard Melcher have left the EV alone. Beneath the tweaked design, the Mercedes is a way more thrilling proposition than its standard stablemates, beginning with the model-specific electrical motors which are mounted on every axle. The rear axle’s motor, specifically, receives distinctive engineering through a six-phase design (two windings on every of three phases) and a pull-in part on the stator for quicker response. However each entrance and rear models profit from increased currents and tailored inverters to allow better motor pace – and subsequently extra energy.
What’s extra, Mercedes-AMG provides each motors a so-called “water lance.” This cooling system function flows liquid by way of the rotor shaft of each motors, preserving inner temperatures constant and offering quick acceleration whilst battery cost dwindles and ambient temperatures rise. Such cooling methods are important for efficiency EVs, even when Mercedes could begin placing air-cooled batteries in its extra efficiency-minded fashions.
The online results of these engineering efforts is the aforementioned 617 hp, in addition to 701 pound-feet of torque. And when you’re hare-brained sufficient to choice the AMG Dynamic Plus bundle, you get 60 extra horses and 37 extra torques for brief durations of time. My tester was so outfitted, which additionally meant there was an AMG Race Begin drive mode (that’s Mercedes for “launch management”), and in pursuit of due diligence and nothing extra, I gave it a strive. I’m glad I sampled it earlier than lunch due to the gut-wrenching acceleration off the road.
The dash to 60 miles per hour is over in a Mercedes-estimated 3.4 seconds, a fast quantity by any account and quicker than the manufacturer-claimed 3.7 seconds for the BMW iX M60 or the Audi SQ8 E-Tron’s 4.5 seconds. All of the extra spectacular is the ferocious, instantaneous lunge ahead if you carry off the brake and let all 677 horses out of the corral – some EVs step off gently after which wallop you with energy as soon as underway, however the AMG launches like a slingshot. The thrust is addicting, and because of that subtle cooling system and winding format, it could actually occur repeatedly in order for you it to.
Outdated-Faculty AMG Taste
With such prodigious thrust obtainable in a comparatively sedate-looking providing, it’s attainable to contemplate the flagship EQE SUV a religious successor to the refined, speedy 1995 E500 or 1999 E55 AMG. Sadly, the comparability additionally extends to the EQE SUV’s dealing with, which pales compared to the good straight-line pace. The sporty EV is easy and polished in relaxed driving, with a hushed cabin and compliant suspension when cruising down the freeway, as any good German luxurious automobile needs to be.
However on the curvy, undulating roads east of Escondido, California, the Mercedes-AMG EQE SUV steadily launched my bottom to the underside of its suspension journey, even with the air springs and adaptive dampers set to their stiffest settings. As is the case with so many people, the issue could lie in extreme weight. At 5,930 kilos, the electrical AMG feels heavy and underdamped, with far an excessive amount of wallowing in quick driving to encourage confidence behind the wheel.
The brakes add to the frustration. As on most different Mercedes-EQ merchandise, the pedal itself strikes correspondingly to the quantity {of electrical} regeneration that’s being served up, giving it an inconsistent really feel. And if you need to command extra stopping energy than the admittedly wonderful predictive regeneration can serve up, your foot encounters a stiff, rubbery-feeling brake pedal, like there’s a racquetball caught on the floorboard. There’s a workaround, and that’s to disengage electrical regen altogether. However the place’s the EV enjoyable in that?
Most frustratingly, the Mercedes appears to at all times be on the verge of full-panic stability management intervention in sporty driving, a difficulty I seen when descending a twisty canyon highway. The automobile would seemingly apply braking on one or two wheels in the midst of a nook – with out illuminating any of the digital nanny lights, thoughts you – then launch them instantly to take away any belief I had constructed within the suspension steadiness till that second. As with the Mercedes-AMG S63 E Efficiency I drove not too long ago, easing the tempo a bit solved the problem, nevertheless it’s irritating to be admonished in a sporty Benz for having some largely harmless enjoyable.
AM/GT
Like a lot of its Nineties and 2000s forebears, the 2024 Mercedes-AMG EQE SUV is greatest suited to high-speed freeway working, the place its outrageous energy output and serene cabin make the miles slip by unnoticed. Inside supplies are good, particularly with the interesting MB-Tex dashboard and windowsills and commonplace Nappa leather-based seating surfaces. Giant swaths of the door panel – together with the door pull – are performed up in cheap-feeling plastic, however general, the EQE feels appropriately polished.
Seat consolation entrance and rear is great, with an upright seating place and higher visibility than one would discover within the EQE sedan. That mentioned, at 18.4 cubic toes, cargo capability is nearer to a GLA or GLC crossover than the nominally associated GLE. It is also about half the quantity of area within the BMW, and in contrast to the SQ8, there is not a frunk. In any other case, this may be a really comfy place for 4 adults to whisk off to ports unknown.
Serving to them get there’s the work of a 90.6-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery that may settle for a DC quick cost fee of 170 kilowatts. Though that quantity is down on the BMW iX M60 (195 kW), it matches the Audi. Mercedes claims a 10-to-80-percent cost time of 31 minutes utilizing a DC charger, with the on-board 9.6-kilowatt charger jolting the battery to 100% in lower than 10 hours on a 240-volt wallbox.
Official EPA scores for the AMG-ified EQE SUV are nonetheless below wraps, however I wouldn’t be stunned to see 230 miles per cost given the much less highly effective EQE500’s 262-mile ranking. Whether or not that’s sufficient in your personal life-style is between you and your Benz seller, however the iX M60 can journey 274 miles with 22-inch wheels or 288 miles with 21s.
No Substitute For The Badge
These rivals – together with the dynamic, however cheaper and fewer prestigious, Genesis GV60 Efficiency – are a number of the greatest sporty luxurious EVs available on the market in the present day, and so they’re priced accordingly. The SQ8 ought to sneak in slightly below $100,000 when pricing is formally introduced, and the iX M60 calls for $112,495 for the pleasure. Mercedes-AMG has but to disclose pricing and availability for its newest EV, however its much less highly effective sedan equal begins at $108,050, so the sport-ute might be a tiny bit cheaper than its Bavarian rival.
The gilded Mercedes end additionally begins to flake off if you push the AMG onerous on a winding highway, making it a tricky promote for me personally. Then once more, when you consider my colleagues, the most popular Bimmer iX doesn’t really feel that a lot quicker or extra attention-grabbing than its base-model sibling. And whereas I haven’t pushed the Audi SQ8 E-Tron, it’s slower to 60 than our topic by a few second. So whereas the 2024 Mercedes-AMG EQE SUV is probably not my alternative of valuable metallic, at the very least the newest Affalterbach particular feels simply that – particular.
Mercedes-AMG EQE SUV Competitor Critiques
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