Mercedes-Benz EQE E-Class saloon in electric guise

TESTER’S NOTE I’m not the biggest fan of Mercedes’ MBUX infotainment system, but how the sat-nav shows chargers along your route, grouped by power rating and filtering out those already in use, really is very impressive. MS

TESTED 7.4.22, FRANKFURT, GERMANY ON SALE NOW MERCEDES-BENZ EQE 350+

Stuttgart creates an electric equivalent of the E-Class in its quest to outdo Tesla

ercedes-Benz means business

Mwith the new little brother of the EQS luxury limousine: a super-slippery travel soap of an electric executive car, rather than a full-sized bar.

Specifically, the EQE means global fleet business. Unlike the bigger EQS, this new pure-electric saloon will be built in Beijing as well as in Bremen. And eventually coming down to a sub-£70,000 entry price, it should take significantly more sales than its longer and pricier relation.

This is every inch the downsized EQS, for better and worse, from its teardrop-shape outline to its almost seamlessly smooth surfaces and ever so gently arcing ‘one bow’ silhouette.

Being a bit shorter in the hind quarters might better balance its looks, I suppose, but honestly, Mercedes can still put down my name in the ‘unconvinced’ column on the design feedback spreadsheet.

I just hate to see one of the originators of luxury car design abandon so many of its proven conventions for the sake of the clean break from the old motoring world that it’s now so desperate to represent. A long bonnet, balanced proportions and a planted stance are what define a desirable car, visually at least; but Mercedes’ EQ sub-brand seems to be going down a much more bland and anonymous route, however first-rate the associated aerodynamics may be.

The EQE uses a shortened version of the EVA2 car architecture that the EQS blooded, with a wheelbase some 90mm shorter. It carries two drive battery modules, rather than three, under the cabin floor for 90kWh of usable capacity, rather than 108kWh.

In the UK, we will get the EQE 300, EQE 350+ and twin-motor, four-wheel-drive AMG 53 versions of it (the uppermost and lowermost coming along slightly later than the mid-ranger), while other markets will get the four-wheel-drive EQE 500 and AMG EQE 43 versions as well.

Suspension on the bottomend derivatives is via steel coils as standard, while upper-level cars get Airmatic air suspension instead.

Interestingly, only the AMG EQE 53 will be available with either the four-wheel steering or the optional MBUX Hyperscreen infotainment system seen on the bigger EQS, at least as far as Mercedes UK is concerned. Evidently, Milton Keynes wants to save some key gadgets for the range-topping model.

The other top-level difference between the EQE and EQS is that the latter has a liftback cargo bay and the former a separate boot. The EQE’s luggage-carrying capacity is still pretty sizable, though.

However, no doubt as a result of that plunging roofline, the rear cabin is disappointingly short of head room. Mercedes UK will fit a panoramic glass roof on all EQE Smooth surfaces and simple lines are all in the name of efficiency

Air suspension is very effective, smoothing over even tram rails

Digital dials are flanked by large, comprehensive touchscreen

Filtered but still intuitive steering makes it surprisingly wieldy and easy to place in traffic ❞

trim levels, which is partly to blame.

If you’re taller than 6ft 2in, you will be more comfortable travelling in the front, where the driving position is just a little bit higher than that of the average saloon and gives you good visibility to all quarters, save where the raked A-pillars intercede.

We tested the EQE 350+ in the Avantgarde and AMG Line trims. Mercedes UK won’t offer the former, which is sad, because we preferred its seat comfort, lighter-coloured cabin ambience and more naturallooking materials.

You don’t miss that sprawling Hyperscreen when there’s a nicely marqueted piece of open-pore wood on the dashboard and more than enough digital real estate between the giant central touchscreen, the digital instrument screen and a large head-up display anyway.

The EQE does luxury very well indeed on the move. On those air springs, it’s remarkably quiet riding and well isolated both in town and out and cocooning from wind noise.

Cushioned and supple, it dealt with inner-city Frankfurt’s tram rails and expansion joints really effortlessly in Comfort driving mode.

Filtered but still intuitive-feeling steering makes it surprisingly wieldy and easy to place in traffic, too, and body control and handling agility are tidy enough at greater speeds.

The 288bhp rear-mounted drive motor makes for plenty of assertive, instantly accessible performance; and in an EV of the sort that so many of us drive with an eye on the remaining range, you really wouldn’t miss the excessive power of the AMG model.

While we’re on that topic, our testing suggested that the claimed range of up to 394 miles should turn into a real-world one of somewhere between 250 and 300.

The EQE is made supremely easy to drive if you leave the powertrain in Intelligent regeneration mode, and particularly so when you’re out of town with the cruise control engaged, when it almost feels like an imposition to actually have to operate a pedal now and again (the car can accelerate and decelerate with surrounding traffic and keeps tabs on the speed limit automatically, but it still can’t read a red traffic light).

If you prefer to take total control and engage yourself fully at the wheel, you can choose your own regenerative braking settings using the steering wheel-mounted paddles and enjoy the process a fair amount. Only the slightly spongy brake pedal would be likely to occasionally annoy.

If E-Class drivers have the budget to make the big switch to electric via the EQE, they will find it a car with impressive luxury, refinement, drivability, on-board technology and ease of use; acceptable range and recharging capability; and only a handful of weaknesses elsewhere. It’s a worthy new EV player, for certain.

Will they see a Mercedes when they first look at an EQE, though, and will they want one? If not for all of the above reasons, I’m still unconvinced – and I do know that good car design, even when it’s daring, doesn’t generally leave such things so open to question. MATT SAUNDERS @thedarkstormy1

MERCEDES-BENZ EQE 350+

Offers excellent luxury credentials and creditable range at a palatable price, but the design is questionable AAAAC

Price £76,450 Engine Electric motor Power 288bhp Torque 417lb ft Gearbox 1-spd, RWD Kerb weight 2355kg 0-62mph 6.4sec Top speed 131mph Battery 90kWh (usable) Range, economy 356-394 miles, 3.3-3.9mpkWh RIVALS Porsche Taycan RWD, Tesla Model S