Motortrend test of the EQS450+
2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS450+ First Test: Setting the Luxurious Pace
Give in to the pleasant jellybean-shaped pod future, give in.
Pros
- Solid range
- Eye-catching design
- Impressively silent operation
Cons
- Some don't enjoy the blob shape
- Not particularly quick
It says a lot about where expectations lie these days for electric luxury cars when you realize the Mercedes-Benz EQS450+, a six-figure, near three-ton sedan, gets to 60 mph in 5.4 seconds—and that figure sounds boring. In 2022, such performance is enough to (barely) beat out most minivans. With an electric motor's absence of noises, a nearly five-and-a-half-second wait to reach highway speed is a total snoozefest. And you know what? That's exactly what makes the 2022 Mercedes EQS450+ so compelling.
The 450+ name is a grouping of utterly meaningless numbers on its own, but it's also a signifier that this EQS is the lesser of the two available models, those meaningless numbers being smaller than the EQS580's numbers. The 450+ uses only one electric motor to power its rear wheels, a 329-hp, 419-lb-ft unit also found in the 580, where it's joined by a second motor powering the front axle, bringing that version's total output to 516 hp and 631 lb-ft. Both EQS models share a 107.8-kWh battery embedded in the floor structure.
You Must Want To Waft
We already tested the EQS580, but this is our first go in the 450+. The test results were predictable. Down 187 hp and a driven axle to the EQS580, the 450+ takes 1.7 seconds longer to reach 60 mph. That's quite a disparity, given how the 450+ is nearly 300 pounds lighter, but remember: The less powerful EQS still weighs more than 5,500 pounds. Around town, there is plenty of pep for shoehorning the large EQS into gaps in traffic, but acceleration tapers off noticeably above freeway speeds.
As for range, the EPA says a 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS450+ can do 350 miles on a single full charge (just 10 more than an EQS580). We put more than 200 miles on our test car during a week of parking it outside overnight in cold weather without charging, after starting with an almost-full battery pack (with about 300-some miles of range showing) and never once worried we'd run out of juice. Each night the battery would lose some range (again, we didn't plug it in). At the end of the week, a 38-minute charge from nearly empty to 80 percent on a 150-kW Electrify America charger brought the EQS450+'s range to a displayed 321 miles. Doing a little back-of-napkin math—presuming that 80 percent reading was exactly accurate—that translates to 401 miles of range on a full charge, quite a bit more than the EPA's seemingly conservative estimate. The EQS, by the way, is capable of up to 200-kW charging speeds.
Speed Really Isn't The Point
The 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS450+ is slower than the 580, which itself is slower than competitors such as Tesla's Model S Plaid and Lucid's Air. We think the leisurely performance suits the big Benz, however. As we pointed out in our Car of the Year testing—where the EQS580 was a finalist this year—the EQS is eerily quiet at speed. It's quite difficult to tamp down on tire, road, and wind noise in EVs, as there's no white noise from an internal combustion engine to blunt those sound waves while cruising. The melted-bar-of-soap shape surely helps cheat the wind, but Mercedes-Benz's decades of experience building the class-leading, conventionally powered S-Class limousine can't hurt.
The same mass that hampers the EQS' performance delivers a pleasing heft, leaving an impression of solidity and substance. With its standard air springs and adaptive dampers, the 450+ delivers an old-school luxury car ride, soft going on boaty. Handling remains secure, however, even if there are a few extra ride motions when hitting a bump mid-turn.
You'll also want to acclimate to the standard rear-wheel steering, which can turn the rear wheels up to 10 degrees opposite the fronts at lower speeds. Drive aggressively, and the rear-steer setup can whip the tail around with vigor—a surprising sensation for those not used to driving something so large that moves with such overt directional agility. Keep the pace relaxed, and the rear steering makes tight U-turns or parking maneuvers a joyful snap. Grip is never an issue, and despite all the rear-steer gymnastics the EQS hangs on for a sports-car-like 0.91 g around our skidpad, matching the last S-Class we tested, which was significantly lighter. Credit that low-mounted battery and the EQS's huge tires.
The 450+ also gets the same odd, self-moving brake pedal that adjusts its position to match the level of regenerative braking (slowing the car using only the drag from the drive motors) so that when you go to hit the pedal to bring the car to a complete stop or call up more braking power, the pedal is already at the position to match the regen's braking force. This is designed to smooth the transition between the regenerative braking and mechanical braking systems, but it feels … extremely weird. The smoother you are with your inputs, the less quickly the pedal jumps around, but you can also disable regen braking altogether, which brings the pedal's operation into a more normal envelope.
What matters above all else is how the brakes handle your inputs, and the EQS450+'s 112-foot stop from 60 mph is admirable for something so heavy. In fact, that stopping distance trails that last Mercedes S580 we tested—the EQS's conventionally powered equivalent in Benz's lineup—by a mere four feet, again, despite that sedan weighing hundreds of pounds less.
Luxury, Single-Motor Style
Perhaps the best part of the 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS450+ experience is that, from a feature perspective, it's the same as you get in the EQS580. You can load up a 450+ with all the same bells and whistles as the 580, from the 20-inch thin-spoke wheels ($1,100) to the triple-display Hyperscreen that spans the entire dashboard ($7,230!). When not flooring the accelerator, you'll never miss the front motor, and no one else will know you didn't pay extra for it (unless, you know, they understand the jumble of numbers on the trunk badge).
What you're left with is an extremely comfortable, extremely eye-catching luxury EV that zags where its competitors zig. Leave the stoplight drag races for Teslas and the novel packaging and powertrain downsizing to Lucid. The EQS is a Mercedes-Benz that happens to be electric and looks like a spacecraft crashed to earth. For as much as we've written about the anodyne jellybean shape, we received plenty of positive feedback from wowed bystanders, especially about the interior, with its glass-roof airiness and the wild glass Hyperscreen dashboard. It has the look, it has the range, and it has the comfort to make exploring that range a compelling proposition—and at just north of $100,000, it's much less expensive than its immediate competition. Generally ignoring sporty performance for an outright focus on calming luxuriousness could almost be considered bold.
| 2022 Mercedes-EQ EQS450+ Specifications | |
| BASE PRICE | $103,360 |
| PRICE AS TESTED | $116,355 |
| VEHICLE LAYOUT | Rear-motor, RWD, 5-pass, 4-door hatchback |
| MOTOR TYPE | Permanent-magnet electric |
| POWER (SAE NET) | 329 hp |
| TORQUE (SAE NET) | 417 lb-ft |
| TRANSMISSION | 1-speed automatic |
| CURB WEIGHT (F/R DIST) | 5,524 lb (48/52%) |
| WHEELBASE | 126.4 in |
| LENGTH x WIDTH x HEIGHT | 207.3 x 75.8 x 59.6 in |
| 0-60 MPH | 5.4 sec |
| QUARTER MILE | 14.0 sec @ 101.6 mph |
| BRAKING, 60-0 MPH | 112 ft |
| LATERAL ACCELERATION | 0.91 g (avg) |
| MT FIGURE EIGHT | 26.0 sec @ 0.70 g (avg) |
| EPA CITY/HWY/COMB FUEL ECON | 97/97/97 mpg-e |
| EPA RANGE, COMB | 350 mi |
| ON SALE | Now |
