MERCEDES-BENZ EQE SUV

Stuttgart continues to expand its family of luxury electric cars with another big SUV

- GREG KABLE

TESTED 28.3.23, LISBON, PORTUGAL ON SALE AUGUST

There's something reassuringly, quintessentially Mercedes-Benz about the name of the company's latest electric car. It's an SUV version of the EQE saloon, so it has been called the EQE SUV - natürlich.

It's not short on power, but layers of flab limit its performance potential

Its mechanical specification is equally rational. Like the EQE and the EQS duo, it's based on Mercedes' Electric Vehicle Architecture, and it offers familiar motive machinery. A trio of dual-motor, four-wheel-drive models have been confirmed for the UK, making 288bhp (EQE 350 4Matic), 402bhp (EQE 500 4Matic) and 469bhp (AMG EQE 43 4Matic).

Nothing is unusual about its smooth, rounded design, either. In fact, with a drag coefficient of 0.25, it's Mercedes' most aerodynamically efficient SUV to date. New wind-cheating developments include patented elements within the front wheelhouses and a flat belly with various tuning vanes. And along with the standard look, there are of course two sporty AMG Line packages, plus a wide array of alloy wheels, ranging from 19in to 22in.

Absorbent ride and excellent refinement combine for pure relaxation

It perhaps goes without saying that the EQE SUV is roughly the same length as the combustion-engined GLE, at 4863mm, with a similarly long wheelbase, but it's also significantly narrower, at 1849mm, and lower, at 1686mm.