Mercedes-Benz EQE review: Cheaper than an EQS but no less good

(Pocket-lint) – Mercedes-Benz is gradually filling out its fleet of all-electric models with the wonderful, top-of-the-range EQS model proving to be the icing on the cake if you want a luxury saloon. However, that car has a price tag that starts just under GBP100k and can be inflated way beyond that figure if you add on all the trimmings. By comparison, the Mercedes-Benz EQE, even in its top-drawer 350+ Exclusive Luxury incarnation, seems like a bit of a bargain with its on-the-road price tag of GBP89,345.

This is also a smaller saloon than the EQS, so if you’re stuck for drive space and want lots of luxury you’ll find the EQE more than fits the bill. There’s a decent 90kWh battery and a purported range of up to 394 miles from full, while performance is addressed nicely thanks to 288bhp and 565Nm of torque on tap if you want to blatt on down the motorway. Despite its size and weight, the EQE benefits from plenty of get-up-and-go, with a 0-62mph time of 6.4 seconds and a top speed of 130mph.

Pretty good for a heavyweight, luxury, ride like this.

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If you’ve ever driven a Tesla Model S you’ll probably know how build quality can be a tad hit-and-miss. Tesla might tempt you with its range, but the EQE has the range that can take on Fremont’s finest and feels a whole lot better made to boot. While the design isn’t really as exciting as the driving part of the EQE, it looks decent enough and those 20-inch, 5-spoke alloys on this model add a touch of bling to the Obsidian Black metallic paintwork.

Meanwhile, the highlights reside on the inside of the EQE, with wonderfully comfortable seating, the excellent touchscreen and lashings of tech treats raising the level of interest. There are some everyday usability niggles with the touchscreen options, with navigation tools that can be problematical if you’re in the dark and on your own in the car. And, as mentioned, the ambient lighting is so good, but it can also present challenges in some driving scenarios.

As with any tech-laden car, the Mercedes-Benz EQE needs you to spend some quality time within its digital inner workings before you feel completely at ease with all that potential. Once you’ve mastered it all though, this car, like its bigger brother the EQS is really rather peachy.

Mercedes-Benz EQE

5 stars – Pocket-lint editors choice

For

• Wonderfully comfortable
• Mountains of clever tech

Against

• All that tech can be confusing
• Looks a little innocuous

Perfectly cute design

Not everyone wants to waft around in a high-priced car that shouts, ‘Look at me!’, which is why the Mercedes-Benz EQE might find favour with some folks. Even the full-fat model driven here, the Mercedes-Benz EQE 350+ Exclusive Luxury Edition is fairly understated.

Critics might even suggest it looks a little pedestrian, but those smooth lines do grow on you the longer you’re in its company. Aficionados of shiny stuff will not be entirely disappointed though, with big chrome door handles that pop out when you unlock the car. These are illuminated after dark, while the puddle lights are impressively high-resolution and add another touch of showy-ness.

There’s more after-dark fun at the front too, with nothing short of a minor firework display of illumination from the headlight area when you approach the car, get in, and press ‘Start’. This reasonably low-key luxury angle works to great effect in everyday situations too with many people letting you out at junctions, perhaps more so than would with more boisterous models in the MB range. That’s a win for sure.

You also get a really rather practical car, with big doors that open widely – though headroom in the back is a little less great and a respectable 430-litre boot hidden under a lid rather than a hatchback. Inside that, there are cables should you need to plug into a charger, though you’ll ideally want to find a rapid outlet, where 10 to 80 per cent can be achieved in around 30 minutes if you can locate one.

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A refreshing interior

Curiously, and it may just be a personal thing, but the expanse of the wood-effect dash in the EQE is somewhat reminiscent of those elegant speedboats that frequent the Italian lakes. You’d think it would seem a little at odds with the digital touchscreen, but the contrast is refreshing.

The shiny chrome circular air vents work well too, as do the other metallic flourishes found on the inside of the EQE, especially in the case of the black/space grey Nappa leather seats. These are, incidentally, deliciously comfy both front and rear. There are other neat design touches too, like the curved centre console that has a similarly styled opening that hides the quirky cupholders and power sockets.

Behind that, the opening-down-the-middle cubbyhole is great too, allowing rear seat occupants to delve into the Haribo with ease. In fact, everything about the interior of the EQE has been executed with comfort and convenience in mind. The archetypal Mercedes-Benz seats adjustment options in the door panels top it off, complete with heat or cooling options in top-of-the-range cars.

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A practical technology story

You get less screen stuff going on in the EQE as opposed to the EQS, which features the Hyperscreen that takes up the bulk of the dashboard, though it may end up being offered in this car for the UK market at a later date.

Instead, there’s a sensible 12.8-inch central touchscreen and 12.3-inch digital dash cluster in front of the wheel. You don’t really notice the paired-back appeal of the tech either, although passenger-side occupants do lose out on their own little bit of screen real estate as a result. On the upside, there’s less reflective glare and that is a bonus, especially if you’re driving.

Spend some time exploring the MBUX system lurking inside the central screen and that cluster – supplemented by a cracking head-up display – and there are many, many goodies. Granted, some are less easy to operate when you’re on the go as they could be, but that is the lot of the tech fan who doesn’t want to dabble in the world of voice control and all that entails.

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Driving aids are solid too, although the automatic, smart-style headlights don’t seem to be quite as smart as you’d like them to be when it comes to full-beam selection time. Reverting to controlling them manually certainly produced less irritated flashes from oncoming drivers.

Again though, you tend to get the best from the tech inside the EQE the longer you have to familiarise yourself with it so perhaps it’s the same with this feature?

Driving, range and charging

Once you’ve settled into the wonderful driving seat, and got the tech setup as you like it, the drive is largely excellent. In fact, the effect is much the same as that witnessed in the bulkier EQS. However, as mentioned above, what is noticeably beneficial about the dash of the EQE is that it isn’t affected by quite as much reflection from the expanse of digital screen.

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The overall effect you get from driving the EQE is pretty calming too.

While there are three drive modes, including a tempting Sport, Comfort is the one that sees most use. It’s good on the battery usage, but there is Eco if you misjudge those essential trips to the charger, and the car just wafts along so nicely that you don’t really feel the need to change much. The cockpit is such a great place to be too, with a column-mounted shifter, paddles for regeneration and seemingly never-ending options hiding within the digital dashboard display or that chunky, high-res touchscreen.

While the Mercedes-Benz EQE 350+ is generally a fabulous thing to drive, there are some minor points that niggle. Accelerating is smooth and seamless, as is stopping again thanks to the powerful yet spongy – as is the case with many EVs – brakes working a treat. Pull back on the regeneration tab in front of the steering wheel though and you’ll find the resulting effect is quite harsh.

It works, but seems a little at odds with all of the other smooth-ness that comes with this car. Another thing, which is easily rectified if you can be bothered to fiddle with the settings in the infotainment system, is the ambient lighting. It’s so good that generally speaking you don’t want to touch it.

However, driving the car in the dark, on a misty and murky night along the A30, the glare from its subtle hues tended to get in the way of the view in the door mirrors. You also get a reflection of the circular air vents at the end of the dash. Presumably, if you’ve got the car for longer, it is possible to set things up a little better though.

The way it switches off and turns red on one side if you inadvertently go over a white line is quite slick though.

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One other thing to watch with the EQE is reversing it, because the view out of the rear window is limited to say the least, rather like the EQS. The reversing camera tech is excellent, however and does get around this, but given that the car is quite sizeable, you do need to take a little more time nudging back into those no-longer-free Pod Point charging bays at Tesco.

To recap

The all-electric Mercedes-Benz range continues to expand and anyone who loves the EQS, but can’t stretch to one, might want to consider the EQE. It features many of the same fabulous luxury car trimmings, but can be had for less cash.

While the looks aren’t exactly head-turning, the Mercedes-Benz EQE 350+ Exclusive Luxury model we’ve been driving packs in tons of tech and delivers a sublime drive. Real-world range could perhaps be a little better, but there’s more than enough in the power pack to get you most places without too much in the way of inconvenience. Thanks to stellar comfort levels, you’ll certainly be fresh and well-rested by the time you get there too.

Writing by Rob Clymo.

Editing by Chris Hall.