After spending a week with the 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS 450+<\/a> here\u2019s what I learned and you need to know.<\/p>\n 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Hit: This is luxury<\/strong><\/p>\n Back off, Tesla fan club. The Model S is a $45,000 interior (at best) with an expensive battery pack and some powerful electric motors. The EQS features a flagship-level luxury interior. Everything is covered in leather, soft-touch material, glass, metal, and can be heated, cooled, or adjusted to your liking. Yes, the Virgin airline-like LED lighting can be a bit distracting, but it can be turned off (unless you\u2019re into that kind of thing). The available Hyperscreen dashboard with a 56-inch pane of glass covering three screens makes everything else on the market look like it\u2019s from the past while this is from the future. But above all else, the interior\u2019s a place one wants to spend their time, coddled by its pillowy soft materials.<\/p>\n 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS<\/p>\n<\/div>\n 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS<\/p>\n<\/div>\n 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS<\/p>\n<\/div>\n 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Miss: Overwhelming<\/strong><\/p>\n There are three screens\u2014a 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster, 17.7-inch central display, and 12.3-inch touchscreen for the front passenger\u2014and as cool as they are, they\u2019re altogether distracting as all get-out. There\u2019s a wow factor at first, and then it\u2019s immediately overwhelming to use. It took some time, but I did get comfortable using it. But the entire setup never felt necessary. The user experience is the opposite of what one will find in the Lucid Air<\/a>, which feels cool but functional. Hyperscreen seems to be cool for the sake of being cool.<\/p>\n 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Hit: Efficient<\/strong><\/p>\n Surprise and delight. That\u2019s what a luxury car should do, and in terms of range, the EQS does just that. The 450+ model tested had an EPA range rating of 350 miles. In mixed driving around Los Angeles with a heavy foot I drove 255 miles, taking the EQS from an initial 92% state of charge to 17%, with the car stating it had another 71 miles of range left. After charging to 100% I pushed the luxury hatchback harder than any EQS owner likely will the entire run through Angeles Crest outside LA, then around the city, back through Pasadena and over to Burbank. That hard-driving total of 150 miles used only 52% of the battery\u2019s juice. Rough math says even while not being driven gently the EQS could\u2019ve gone about 350 miles. This same route nearly depletes a Taycan\u2019s battery. With a light foot, or even just driving like a normal human, it\u2019s clear the EQS easily matches its EPA range rating. We want some more seat time to test the range, but on first blush, the EQS seemingly is more efficient than advertised.<\/p>\n 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Miss: Mushy brakes<\/strong><\/p>\n The worst part of the EQS are the brakes. They are mushy. The system starts with regenerative braking for the first part of the brake pedal\u2019s travel and then transitions to friction braking. The transition point is like pushing through an imaginary wall. While the brakes never faded, or even smoked, while being pushed hard up Angeles Crest, they never inspired confidence and were hard to predict. The tuning of the brake system might be one of the worst on the market today.<\/p>\n 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Hit: Charges quickly<\/strong><\/p>\n Mercedes-Benz said the EQS has a peak charge rate of just over 200 kw, and it wasn\u2019t kidding. At a 350-kw Electrify America charger I witnessed the EQS hit a peak charge rate of 208 kw, and the EQS runs on a 400-volt electrical architecture rather than on a circa-900-volt system like the Lucid Air. The charge rate settled around 165 kw. At 94% state of charge the juice was still flowing at 35 kw. It took 55 minutes to recharge from 17% to 100%. That experience is something Ford Mustang Mach-E buyers can only dream<\/a> about as it\u2019s that last 20 to 30% that can be tedious for EV drivers who need a full charge to make a next station.<\/p>\n 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Miss: Memory loss<\/strong><\/p>\n The EQS has a memory problem: It can\u2019t remember my drive settings. To be fair, this is a problem in other Mercedes-Benz products, including AMGs, when it comes to drive settings. But in an electric car this issue is more egregious. Want to one-pedal drive the EQS? Every single time you start the car\u2014with a start button you have to press each time\u2014the steering wheel paddle has to be pulled to engage more regenerative braking. Don\u2019t like that the air suspension wallows on the highway in Comfort mode? Put the suspension in sport mode when customizing Individual mode, or, the entire powertrain into Sport mode. But you\u2019ll have to do this each and every time the car\u2019s turned on. This is annoying, and should be a set it and forget it powertrain option like in a Mustang Mach-E or Tesla.<\/p>\n![\"2022](\"https:\/\/images.hgmsites.net\/lrg\/2022-mercedes-benz-eqs_100820981_l.jpg\" "\\"2022")
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