Mercedes EQE SUV and AMG EQE SUV debut, coming to the US first

Mercedes EQE SUV and the AMG EQE SUV are finally official - the company took the wraps off both models today. There were some surprises, there are some firsts as well but when it comes to the design - everything was already revealed. Still, Mercedes put on the show, hired some dancers, made some people sit on pebble-made seats and even hired Henry the rabbit, to prove how friendly and good the new cars are.

Starting with the low end of the range, the EQE SUV will be available in 350+, 350 4MATIC and 500 4MATIC trims. The surprise is the missing EQE SUV 300, which we know will be available in China thanks to the official listing leaked only on Friday. It is possible that for now Mercedes will focus on the more expensive versions with the entry model to be introduced at a later stage.

The AMG EQE SUV will come in two flavors - 43 4MATIC and 53 4MATIC+ with up to 687 HP on tap. There are a lot of mechanical differences between the AMG and the non-AMG versions that can be blamed for a huge price difference - on that later. AMG comes with an uprated air suspension and added 48V anti-roll system we know from gas-powered models.

The brake system on the AMG EQE SUV comes with 6-piston calipers hugging 415 mm discs up front, the rear brakes have 378 mm discs and single-piston calipers. The optional ceramic brakes bump the front discs to 440 mm in diameter and a huge 40 mm of thickness - that’s a serious stopping power. The electro-mechanical brake booster has been tuned by AMG engineers as well to give it the typical response expected from the brand.

Let’s talk numbers - AMG EQE 43 4MATIC SUV is powered by two electric motors with a combined output of 350 kW or 476 HP and 858 Nm of torque. The battery pack is a 328V and 90.6 kWh powerhouse capable of 170 kW DC charging and up to 22 kW AC charging. The recuperation capacity of the system is 260 kW.

Sprint from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) takes 4.3 seconds and the car will go onto the top speed of 210 km/h which is electronically limited. The WLTP range is either 488 km (303 miles) or 431 km (267 miles) with the optional 22” wheels.

The AMG EQE 53 4MATIC+ SUV gets a significant power boost - 460 kW (626 HP) and 950 Nm of torque explode the car from standstill to 100 km/h in just 3.5 seconds. That’s actually not entirely correct, Mercedes is playing some tricks with the numbers here. That 3.5 seconds is only achievable with the optional DYNAMIC PLUS package which ups the power to 505 kW (687 HP) and the torque to 1,000 Nm. Top speed goes up to 240 km/h with that option - without it the car tops out at 220 km/h.

The range for the more powerful version is 375 km with the 22” wheels and 470 km on the standard 21 inch items.

Both EQE SUV and AMG EQE SUV have rear-wheel steering, the non AMG version gets 10 degrees articulation as an option, in the AMG it is standard but only gets 9 degrees due to its larger and wider wheels.

The options lists for both models are excruciatingly long, although the entry model EQE SUV 350 is expected to start around €75,000 once the options start piling up it’ll be easy to get closer to €90,000. The company hasn’t officially confirmed the pricing yet but a quick look at EQE prices confirms our suspicions. The AMG versions will start at a minimum of €110,000 and a fully loaded AMG EQE 53 4MATIC+ SUV will be dangerously close to €150,000.

From the outside, it is really hard to tell the two models apart - sure, there are the wheels and black plastic bits are glossy on the AMG but if not for the badges and the grille - you can’t tell the two apart. What is even more interesting, is that from afar it’s kinda hard to tell the EQE SUV from the EQS SUV. While anyone can tell the difference between GLE and GLS the EQ family members are far more similar. That’s great for the smaller and cheaper EQE owner but the folks who splashed out on EQS SUV may not be that impressed.

Over the coming weeks Mercedes and AMG will announce more details, hopefully the pricing will follow soon as well. There are already videos on YouTube available with the first look and in-depth reviews. Both the AMG and non-AMG models will be manufactured in the US at the Mercedes’ factory in Alabama and the US will be the first market to experience the electric medium-sized SUVs with a three-pointed star on the grille.

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