Review: The 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQE 350 SUV Is An Alabama-Built EV
Mercedes-Benz is getting big in ‘Bama.
The German automaker now builds the GLE, GLS and $171,150 Mercedes-Maybach GLS 600 in the Deep South state.
It has also started to electrify its operations with the addition of the electric EQS SUV and the EQE SUV that I’ve tested.
It’s a midsize model like the GLE and starts at $79,050 for an EQE 350 SUV, which gets it in under the $80,000 limit for the federal clean vehicle tax credit on SUVs.
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But only if you lease it. Despite the fact that its battery pack also comes from the state, the ingredients don’t currently meet the local sourcing requirements for a purchase credit, but the law considers leasing a commercial use, which doesn’t carry the same restrictions.
In an interesting move, Mercedes-Benz offers the EQE SUV with either rear wheel drive and a 279-mile driving range or all-wheel-drive and a 253-mile range at the same price. Both are rated at 288 hp, but the torque jumps from 417 lb-ft to 517 lb-ft with the extra driven axle.
It looks a bit bland and egg-like, but that helps it cheat the wind with an impressive .25 coefficient of drag, one of the lowest of any SUV. The interior is much more interesting and very much inline with the rest of the Mercedes-Benz lineup, with a digital instrument cluster and a large central touchscreen display that handles nearly every function, but would be better with a few auxiliary knobs and buttons.
As with many electric vehicles, the EQE has a long wheelbase that straddles its battery pack and creates a very spacious cabin, with legroom for days in the rear seats.
The cargo are is also generous and has a large underfloor storage space, where you will find a fix a flat kit instead of a spare tire.
Some of the optional equipment on my 4Matic all-wheel-drive test car that helped ring the price up to $93,490 included a HEPA air filtration system with an ionizer, an adjustable multi-color ambient lighting system that can turn the cabin into a 1980s nightclub; head-up display; lane-centering adaptive cruise control with lane-change capability; and a four-wheel-steering system that can turn the rear wheels up to 10 degrees opposite the front to shrink the turning radius down to the proverbial dime.
The EQE SUV is set up on the soft side, with a plush suspension, light steering and a mushy electric car brake pedal, but engaging a sportier drive mode sharpens things up a little bit.
The torque is strong and its delivery can be accompanied by one of several synthetic motor noises for effect, but the vehicle is otherwise as silent as a bank vault on Sunday morning.
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As I’ve found to be the case with Mercedes-Benz’s other electric models, the range rating appears to be pessimistic and easily achievable, if not beatable in the real world.
If you can find a public charging station that’s powerful enough, the EQE SUV is capable of 170-kilowatt charging, which can fill the battery from 10 to 80 percent in 32 minutes.
The EQE SUV doesn’t move the needle compared to the class-leading Tesla Model X, which is a bit roomier and offers 348 miles of range at the same price, but it very much does the job of making the transition to electric as seamless as possible for a current Mercedes-Benz owner.
While the even more affordable Cadillac Lyriq lurks in the background, the EQE SUV stands up well against the competition from BMW and Audi on price and performance and looks to be keeping the three-pointed star faithful from defecting.
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Since deliveries began in the second quarter of this year its sales are already 20% of the gasoline-powered GLE, the Alabama brethren combining to make the E-Class SUVs its best-sellers.
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