FIRST DRIVE
MERCEDES-BENZ EQB 350 Seven-seat electric SUV brings enormous levels of tech and premium luxury in Launch Edition form – and turns out to be a family wagon with a party trick up its sleeve when you need to carry huge loads
IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR A SMALLISH VAN, a family SUV from MercedesBenz is unlikely to be the first thing that comes to mind. However the EQB is extraordinarily good in this respect. The fact that we’ve managed to get the entire first paragraph out of the way without mentioning that the EQB is all-electric can be read in one of two ways. First, EVs are now so commonplace that actually, it’s no longer remarkable. Or second, it still is remarkable – only not as remarkable as the practicality this vehicle has hidden within it. The vehicle tested here is an EQB 350 4Matic AMG Line Launch Edition, which is a name you can enjoy memorising while you’re waiting for it to charge up. Actually, this only takes 32 minutes from 10-80% when using a 100kW wall box, so you might need a couple of goes to make it stick. Anyway, we’re looking at a £63,540 SUV here. That figure includes just one option (metallic paint at £895), so all the good stuff on board is part of the package. And that’s a lot of good stuff. The interior is lovely, with the sort of crafted feel you expect from Mercedes. The design has an impressive depth of sophistication to it and
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the materials look and feel just at they should at the price. Equipment-wise, it’s a case of trying to spot what it’s not got. Everything that can be heated, electric and/ or automatic is exactly that, and anything with the option of a premium upgrade seems to have got it. Hard-drive sat-nav, 225-watt stereo, live traffic information, two 10” media displays, 64-colour ambient lighting… you get the picture. It also has sports seats and a Seat Comfort Package as standard, though we didn’t feel particularly well supported in them. They look great, however their back support didn’t really do it for us and the base didn’t engage the editorial posterior very effectively, the result being that we felt unsettled in it and that we were slithering from side to side in hard corners. There’s plenty of room, however, with masses of adjustability and enough space above for you to wear a top hat. The second row is quite ample, too; one six-footer can easily get comfortable behind another, though headroom in the back is significantly less generous thanks in part to the presence of a double panoramic roof. There’s also a third row, which in typical third row fashion becomes more comfortable the smaller you get. But it’s when these two rear rows disappear into the floor that the EQB finally shows its strongest suit. Working out how to actually do this took us longer than we care to admit, however the second row of seats folds as good as 100% flat. In doing so, they leave a cargo bay which, in addition to being enormously long, is almost cubic in shape. This is accessed via a huge, near-square aperture with a low floor, meaning its loadability (this is, of course, a word) is every bit as impressive as its sheer capacity. And its sheer capacity is VERY impressive. So too is its ability to erupt forward when you press the throttle. The motor’s output is quoted at 292bhp and 273lbf.ft, which is good but comes nowhere near describing the acceleration on tap. It’s savagely, brutally quick from any speed. Unfortunately, the words ‘savage’ and ‘brutal’ also come to mind when describing the way our test vehicle rode. It steers and handles well – very well, actually, by any standards let alone those of a tall, two-tonne SUV – but the payoff is that it’s pretty exhausting on any kind of bad road surface. This particular model is at the sporty end of the range, and as such it’s equipped with 235/45R20 tyres, but we’d be inclined to trade a bit of that dynamic brilliance for the sort of composure you expect of a family vehicle. Or, indeed a van. As it is, the EQB is an SUV with a quoted WLTP range of 250-257 miles and a starting price of £53,610. Spec it right and it certainly could be the vehicle to convert you to the electric way.
4x4 07/06/2022 18:50
