If you wanted to buy a Mercedes-Benz EQS but its $100,000+ starting price put you off, you can now order the very similar but slightly smaller EQE, which starts at $76,050 including destination charge. It seems like a considerably lower price for a vehicle that essentially has the same features and looks and you won’t find it tight inside either.
The base price gets you an EQE 350+ with rear-wheel drive and 288 horsepower and 391 lb-ft (530 Nm) of torque. Pay an additional $3,000 and you get 4Matic all-wheel drive, which adds motor powering the front axle for a grand total of 350 horsepower and considerably more torque, 564 lb-ft (764 Nm) – the EQE 350 4Matic starts at $79,050.
Mercedes offers a higher powered dual-motor variant, the EQE 500 4Matic, which is not available in base Premium trim and you can only have it as the higher grade Exclusive and Pinnacle trims. It starts from $89,150 and doesn’t seem considerably more powerful or torquey, with 402 hp and 633 lb-ft (858 Nm), but it accelerates to sixty in 4.5 seconds, 1.5 seconds quicker than the 350 4Matic.
Gallery: 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQE First Drive
The longest range model is the base EQE 350+ with an EPA-rated range of 305 miles (490 km). All model variants draw from the same 100 kWh battery pack with a usable capacity of 90.6 kWh.
As standard, Premium cars come with a 12.3-inch driver’s display and 12.8-inch OLED infotainment screen, mood lighting, heated front seats and Burmester premium audio system.
Exclusive trim makes the ambient lighting active, it adds augmented reality to the navigation system and Driver Assistance Package. Move up to Pinnacle and the car will come with four-zone climate controls and a head-up display, among several others.
We've already experienced the Mercedes EQE
Mercedes has yet to announce the price for the fastest version of the EQE so far revealed, the 53 model, whose dual-motor setup delivers up to 677 horsepower and 738 lb-ft for short bursts and 617 horsepower and 701 lb-ft (950 Nm) without boost, delivering a sprint time to 60 mph of 3.2 seconds.
The AMG model also raises the top speed from the other models’ 130 mph (210 km/h) to 149 mph (240 km/h) in vehicles equipped with the AMG Dynamic Plus pack. It does have the least quoted range in this configuration, though, around 15 percent shorter than the EQE 350+ model.
