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Meet Mercedes' Electric Halo Car, the Production-Spec EQS Sedan

Mercedes-Benz, along with the rest of the major players, has stood idly by as Tesla essentially created and predictably took over the luxury electric sedan segment.
Mercedes-Benz EQS 9 photos
Photo: Andrei Nedelea/Mercedes-Benz for autoevolution
Mercedes-Benz EQSMercedes-Benz Vision EQSMercedes-Benz Vision EQSMercedes-Benz Vision EQSMercedes-Benz Vision EQSMercedes-Benz Vision EQSMercedes-Benz Vision EQSMercedes-Benz Vision EQS
The Stuttgart-based manufacturer has been working on its own battery-powered sedan, which it previewed with the Vision EQS concept. The study showed the basic shape and idea behind the EQS and picturing what the production version will look like isn’t especially hard. So we created this rendering we believe accurately predicts the look of the series production EQS..

Vision EQS showed that Mercedes is going for a very sleek and slippery looking sedan, one you almost couldn’t call a three-box car anymore. Its frontal area melds into the greenhouse which then tapers off quite dramatically towards the rear.

It’s probably the most teardrop-shaped and aggressively tapered sedan we’ve seen since forever, and based on spy photos of camouflaged prototypes, it’s pretty clear the basic shape will stay the same. We were expecting it to also retain the concept’s wing mirror-replacing cameras, but it looks like it will come with traditional mirrors.

Mercedes\-Benz Vision EQS
Photo: Mercedes-Benz
Front fascia will be quite similar to that of the EQC, although the grille is not as tall, nor are the headlights. Details will be similar (since it has to bear the same family face), but the EQS will look far lower and more planted than its crossover cousin.

From the side, it will look quite different to traditional sedans. Its greenhouse is pushed forward more, since there is no big (longitudinally-mounted) internal combustion engine, so it has front-wheel drive car proportions. The shape of the rear end looks quite close to that of the current CLA sedan, albeit slightly more elongated and rounded.

One detail that will make it stand out from a visual standpoint will be its short front overhang, combined with a long rear overhang - the EQS looks like it accelerated too quickly off the line, and the wheels got a head start on the rest of the car...

EQS will ride on Mercedes’ bespoke EV platform called Modular Electric Architecture. This platform allows for the battery pack to be placed low, in the floor of the car, as is so common now among electric cars. And it looks like it also has an impact on what interior layouts are possible, because it looks quite different to that of any other Merc.

Mercedes\-Benz Vision EQS
Photo: Mercedes-Benz
The inside will be dominated by a massive and heavily slanted (possibly portrait-style) touchscreen. This has been retained from the design study, although in the production version, the rest of the interior will look nothing like that of the concept.

Power for the EQS will come from a pair of electric motors, one for each axle. The base version will probably have the same 402 horsepower combined output as the EQC 400 crossover. But there will be more powerful variants available, and there may even be a sporty AMG version with an additional 200 horsepower and a sporty makeover.

It has to be said, though, that while the EQS is a rival for the Tesla Model S, it will be a bit bigger than the American electric sedan. Mercedes will also make a smaller EQE sedan that will be a direct rival to the Model S, the Porsche Taycan and Audi’s upcoming e-tron sedan.

There is a good chance the EQS will take the luxury EV world by storm, since it will not really look like a conventional car, it will have a more futuristic interior than rivals and it will bear the Three Pointed Star on its nose. Plus, it will be Mercedes’ flagship electric vehicle, so you can expect it to be not only well executed, but also brimming with the most advanced tech it has to offer.

Mercedes\-Benz EQS
Photo: Andrei Nedelea/Mercedes-Benz for autoevolution
The EQS will be the electric halo car for Mercedes’ planned range of EV - the plan is to have ten fully-electric models on the market by 2025. These are the EQA (an A-Class-sized EV hatch), the EQB (an all-electric version of the GLB crossover), the EQC, the EQE, the EQV and the EQS. We don’t know what the other four models are, but we hope at least one of them is sporty and fun to drive and that not all will be high-riding crossovers and SUVs.
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