MERCEDES-BENZ EQE 350+

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

- MATT SAUNDERS

TESTED 7.4.22. FRANKFURT, GERMANY ON SALE NOW

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

Mercedes-Benz means business with 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-shaped outline to its almost seamlessly smooth surfaces and ever so gently arcing ‘one bow silhouette.

Being a bit shorter in the hindquarters 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.