Mercedes EQS SUV Review

The EQS SUV becomes the third model following the EQS and EQE saloons to use Mercedes' new bespoke electric car hardware. It was officially revealed in April 2021 before going on sale in the UK by the end of the year. As it rivals the BMW iX, expect prices to be around the £100,000 mark.

Before the reveal, Mercedes took the car on a world testing tour and Electrifying got behind the wheel north of the Arctic Circle to get a first taste.

As with any pre-reveal prototype our car was heavily disguised, but since us driving it the full look of the car has been shown. It shares a lot of its design, naturally, with the EQS and EQE saloons with a smooth, curvy look, blanked-off grille and full-width front and rear LED lights. But unlike its saloon sisters, the SUV has a more traditional, high-rider styling that's more in keeping with Merc's other petrol and diesel SUV models. It certainly has the size and weight of other Mercedes SUVs as the EQS SUV stretches to over five metres and weighs nearly three tonnes.

Naturally, being an SUV, it sits 20cm higher off the road than the EQS and is easier to get into thanks to seats that sit eight centimetres higher. However, it's the space inside which really impresses with tonnes of rear leg and headroom giving a more limo-like experience than even the EQS manages. There's a degree of practicality too as the rear bench seat can slide forwards and backwards to prioritise legroom or boot space. Speaking of the boot, there are also two extra seats making the EQS a seven-seat SUV – whether two full-sized adults can fit in them, however, will be a test for a later day.

Elsewhere, the SUV pinches a lot of the EQS's luxurious interior. The famed 'Hyperscreen' (a £7,995 optional screen on the EQS which stretches across the entire dashboard) is carried over and can be specified, although for the SUV it's been slightly remodelled to allow the passenger to watch TV or movies. There's still the same impressive build quality as found on the EQS saloon with plenty of soft leathers, plush plastics and real metal and wood inlays used.

There's the same electric technology under the SUV's larger body, too, which means a 107.8kWh battery powering single and twin electric motors. Various different driving modes are on offer too, including a new off-road setting. However, despite this, Mercedes isn't targeting outright mud-wrestling prowess with the EQS as that will be the role of the electric G-Glass - the EQG - which arrives in 2024.

On a frozen lake and in deep snow it's hard to give an accurate impression of how the EQS SUV drives, but many of the EQS saloon's qualities are here. With standard air suspension the ride is floaty but also well controlled, and the twin electric motors give ample power and grip.

Mercedes has already confirmed three models at launch – a rear-wheel drive 450+, and 450 and 580 4Matic four-wheel drive models – but it's unclear whether the UK will receive all of them. The large 107.8kWh battery should return between 315 and 410 miles on a full charge, claims Mercedes, which is a fair chunk less that the EQS saloon as a result of the extra weight and the less aerodynamic shape. There will be cheaper and more expensive models too, with Mercedes' AMG tuning division producing its own performance-minded EQS SUV, and already confirmed, a super-posh Mercedes-Maybach version is arriving in 2023.

When it arrives in the UK at the end of 2022, the EQS will without question be Mercedes' largest and finest electric SUV to date, thanks to its bespoke EV platform and impressive design and tech shared with the EQS saloon. It'll certainly appeal to the same types of people who buy Mercedes' current range-topping SUV, the GLS, with its impressive size and it being a very obvious statement of wealth. Whether it'll be better than a BMW iX and the forthcoming Range Rover EV remains to be seen.