NZ exclusive: Mercedes-Benz Vision EQS - driving the prototype

Friday, 20 March 2020

The Mercedes-Benz EQS is, at the moment, a showcar that first debuted at the Frankfurt Motor Show last year. We drove that very car.

Yes, really - Mercedes-Benz invited us over to Melbourne to sample the EQS prototype, which is essentially a concept showcar that moves. It was there for the Australian Grand Prix which ended up cancelled due to coronavirus. It will arrive to supplement the EQC and the EQA, as well as other EQ family members.

We were taken to a private airport and allowed an up-close and personal look at the Vision EQS. It's quite a stunning piece of machinery, with plenty of Mercedes three-pointed star motifs dotted around the body.

The Vision EQS is, essentially, a showcar that can drive under its own power. It's a one-of-one prototype, what comes before any pre-production model.

This is the coolest part of the concept. The headlight is a spinning array made up of two arms, each with 500 tiny LEDs each, that rotates at 2000rpm. They can change to show different images, like charge state or the flowing design seen here.

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It looks fantastic, especially with those taillights. They are made up of 229 individual LEDs, shaped like Mercedes' logo.

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We were even given the chance to drive the EQS, albeit very slowly in a gentle circle.

The nose has 188 circuit boards controlling five blue LEDs each, meaning 940 LEDs in total are embedded in the front of the car. These can change to reflect different states, like the charge level. Mercedes says this is to 'allow interaction between the vehicle and its surroundings.'

Staying up front, there are three horizontal bars on each corner acting as DRLs but hiding behind the black plastic panel is some true mechanical/electrical magic. Each panel has two spinning arrays with 500 LEDs on each.

The clean, minimal interior looks as good in the flesh as it does in photos. Even if the seats aren't all that comfy.

They rotate at 2000rpm and create the impression of flowing shapes and designs behind the panel. They look properly incredible in the flesh, although my attempt to capture the magic on video didn't quite work out.

At the rear, Mercedes engineers have installed a further 229 LEDs flush with the bodywork, all miniature three-pointed stars.

The grille also features hundreds of mini three-pointed stars, each heading a circuit board controlling five blue LEDs each. A total of 940 LEDs are embedded in the front of the car.

Given it's a concept car, there are a few aspects that likely won't make it to production, like those spinning headlights (unfortunately). When it debuted at the Frankfurt Motor Show, Mercedes said it would only be controlled by voice and touch. There are no buttons on the doors and the interior will only have touch-based panels. The prototype here doesn't really have anything, with the controls all handled by a man with an iPad.

But, incredibly, the thing actually drives. Usually, showcars like these are exactly that, a shell designed to look good on a pedestal but Mercedes allowed us to slide into the driver's seat for a brief go.

Well, I say seat. It was essentially a leather pad set on hard plastic, looking good but nonfunctional. Remember, this isn't even a pre-production model, it's a concept car designed to look good at a car show. But it did the job and after the engineer explained where the hidden PRND gear select buttons were and implored me not to 'go too hard and stuff it,' away I went.

So, what's it like? Starting with the electric powertrain, the Vision EQS uses two motors to provide drive, one on each axle for all-wheel drive. I'm not entirely sure why the showcar had this layout, considering it was only really designed to slowly move from the transport to Mercedes' Frankfurt booth.

I was told that when the EQS becomes a full production model it will have the same layout but with around 350kW of power and 760Nm of torque. A 100kWh battery will allow roughly 700km of range under the WLTP testing cycle, which should be fairly close to real-world kays.

In terms of acceleration, the production model will hit 100kmh in 4.5 seconds. I didn't test this in the prototype, partly due to my prior instructions and partly because the shell started rattling at around 15kmh. The engineer sitting in the passenger seat reckoned the powertrain could drive the car to 200kmh but asked me not to test as the rest of the car wouldn't be happy at much more than 50kmh. Fine by me, I didn't want to be the guy who dismantled a one-of-one prototype at speed.

The race-inspired steering wheel wasn't quite mounted correctly, it felt a bit bottom-heavy, but it was actually quite nice to drive with. We'd imagine the production EQS will get a normal wheel, whatever that may resemble in a few years.

While it wasn't switched on for our drive, the Vision EQS has eschewed the traditional dash for a projection-based system, which beams critical information over the driver and passenger's heads and onto the space a dash would normally reside.

The night before the drive, we tagged along to an event at the Mercedes Me store in Melbourne, where Lewis Hamilton and Valterri Bottas arrived driving the EQS. Hamilton said that while the dash was certainly cool and futuristic, it needs a bit of tweaking as his head obstructed some of the projection. Given the F1 champ is 1.74 metres tall, some adjustment system will needed to be implemented for taller drivers, if it even makes it to the final product.

At its Frankfurt debut, Mercedes was conservative with the autonomous capabilities of the EQS. It says the electric sedan will have Level 3 autonomy, which means the car can monitor surroundings and takes care of all steering, braking and throttle inputs in certain environments, such as slow traffic and motorways. However, the driver must be ready to intervene if needed.

So when will it be out?

Mercedes reckons before 2022 but that was before coronavirus kicked into gear. It's a bit like guessing the length of a piece of string now; it could be any time between 2022 and 2032 for all we know. Mercedes is shutting down various factories to try and combat the spread of COVID-19, as are other automakers, so we would presume the focus will be on its current range and any immediate launches rather than near-future products like the EQS.

In any case, the EQS will fall into Mercedes Benz's goal of carbon neutrality before 2039. By next decade, the German wants half of its sales to come from all-electric and hybrid models. Additionally, Mercedes plans to lean on wind power and other forms of clean energy to clean up its manufacturing and admin operations.