2023 Mercedes-Benz EQE First Ride: Can This Replace the E-Class?

mercedes-benz eqs-class Full Overview

Solid and dependable, comfortably composed on any road at any speed, sometimes conservatively styled yet always unmistakably premium, the Mercedes-Benz E-Class sedan has for decades been the car whose core values have defined the Mercedes brand. But not for much longer. Mercedes-Benz's dramatic pivot to focus almost entirely on electric vehicles means there is no new E-Class under development in Stuttgart. Instead, its role as the company's touchstone is being handed to the new, all-electric Mercedes-EQ EQE.

Think of it as a heart transplant for the three-pointed star.

What Is the EQE?

The EQE is the smaller sibling of the new EQS sedan, built on a slightly compacted version of the same EVA2 electric architecture. At 196.7 inches, the EQE is 10.6 inches shorter overall than the EQS, but, significantly, its 122.8-inch wheelbase is only 3.6 inches shorter. It has the same swoopy one-box profile as the EQS—at 59.6 inches its overall height is the same—but with the wheels pulled farther to the corners of the car, it has a chunkier stance.

The more compact dimensions mean the EQE will only be available with the smaller 10-cell, 91-kWh battery pack. (The EQS is available with a 12-cell, 108-kWh battery.) Even so, Mercedes says in its most efficient specification—single motor, rear drive on steel springs and 19-inch wheels—the EQE has a WLTP-certified 410-mile range. (Official EPA ranges are often 20 percent or more lower, but figure 300-plus miles in any event.) The car can handle fast-charge rates up to 170 kW, which means up to 36 kWh, enough for 155 miles on the WTLP standard, can be added to the battery in just 15 minutes.

The EQE also shares much of the technology available on the EQS. The massive Hyperscreen is available as an option, along with air suspension and rear-wheel steering, which pivots the wheels either 10 degrees or 4.5 degrees depending on the wheel/tire package. Speaking of which, the entry-level wheel is a 19-incher, with 20s or 21s available, though selecting those will trim the range by about 5 percent. What you won't be able to get on the EQE—for now, at least—is the Level 3 autonomous Drive Pilot system that made its debut on the new S-Class and is now available on the EQS.

Although the EQE looks a lot like the EQS, it's not just a Shrinky Dinks version of the bigger car. Apart from its proportions, the front end is subtly different with its own headlight graphics. And unlike the EQS, which is a hatchback, the EQE has a conventional trunk. The reason, says EVA2 vehicle development chief Holger Enzmann, who's driving me around Stuttgart in a pre-production EQE350+, is to improve rear headroom by eliminating the need to package the hatch's hinges in the roof.

I try the rear seat at a stop. Although it feels cozier than an E-Class', there's plenty of leg- and knee room, and the H-points on the front and rear seats are 3.2 inches farther apart than in the E-Class. There's also more than an inch of clearance (I'm 6-foot-2) between my head and the optional glass roof fitted to the car. The rear seat also simply looks smaller than the E-Class', particularly in the squab, but Enzmann says the shoulder room is the same. You do have to duck under the header rail to get in and out, however, and the view through the dramatically sloping rear backlight is like looking out of a mailbox.

The Ride Stuff: Our Impressions

The white EQE350+ Enzmann is driving has a single 288-hp, 391-lb-ft electric motor driving the rear wheels. It feels brisk enough when he punches it to merge onto the autobahn, despite the EQE's 5,300-pound mass. More powerful versions such as the dual-motor, all-wheel-drive model are coming, and there'll be an AMG EQE with about 670 horsepower. Think of the EQE350+ as analogous to the entry-level E350 sedan, though Enzmann's brought along a well-optioned car, fitted with the Hyperscreen, a glass roof, the 10-degree rear steering system, air suspension, and an AMG Line appearance package, which includes a slightly more aggressive-looking front fascia and 20-inch wheels.

From the front passenger seat, at least, the EQE hews closely to traditional E-Class values. With the battery under the floor, the front seating position is 2.6 inches higher than in an E-Class, and there's just over an inch more shoulder room. It feels spacious.

You expect an electric car to be smooth and quiet, but the air-suspended EQE rides beautifully and is eerily silent, with nary a hint of a whine from the six-phase permanently excited synchronous electric motor or any harmonics from the 255/40 Pirelli SottoZero winter tires. "An internal combustion engine masks all sorts of noise," Enzmann says, "but in an EV there's nowhere to hide." The noise-suppression features include isolating both the motor and the inverter and control electronics, which are packaged in a special sandwich sheet steel with a plastic central layer.

We'll wait until we get to drive and test one on roads we know, but first impressions suggest the EQE350+ with air suspension is a benchmark midsize luxury EV in terms of ride and refinement. It makes a Tesla Model S feel like an antique.

In case you don't want to waft along in near silence, the EQE offers three sound experiences, artificial noisescapes piped through the audio speakers that rise and fall in concert with speed and acceleration, their intensity linked to whether you're driving in Eco, Comfort, or Sport modes. Silver Wave is a sort of gentle ambient sound, Vivid Flux is a robotic electronic noise, and Roaring Pulse sounds like someone trying to suffocate an AMG GT Black Series under a giant pillow. Quite why you'd want any of them, I don't know, but they're there. And if that's not enough interior entertainment, you can also select an ambient lighting mode that also responds to speed and acceleration.

The aforementioned drive modes change the same sorts of things as in the regular E-Class, with Individual mode allowing drivers to mix and match accelerator mapping, suspension settings, steering weighting, and traction and stability settings as they desire.

The Verdict—So Far

First impression: The EQE is the E-Class electrified. No, the interior package is not the same—though roomier up front and with more rear legroom—as that sloping roofline makes the rear seats feel slightly more cramped. But the EQE350+ feels to have the same overall demeanor of the three-pointed star's touchstone car. And that's a good thing.

But the E-Class, of course, is more than just a sedan. One in three E-Classes sold in Europe last year was a wagon, and in Germany wagons accounted for 50 percent of E volume. And then there is the E-Class Coupe and its Cabriolet cousin, both still solid sellers. Do they simply go away when production of the internal combustion E-Class finally ends?

Enzmann demurs, then hints EQ versions of those models are likely to appear toward the end of this decade, when the EVA2 architecture is superseded by the new MB.EA architecture under development in Stuttgart.

An AMG EQE wagon? Sign us up.

Looks good! More details?2023 Mercedes-EQ EQE 350+ Specifications PRICE $57,000 (est) LAYOUT Rear-motor, RWD, 5-pass, 4-door sedan ENGINE 288-hp/391-lb-ft permanent-magnet electric TRANSMISSION 1-speed automatic CURB WEIGHT 5,300lb (MT est) WHEELBASE 122.8 in L x W x H 196.7 x 77.2 x 59.6 in 0-60 MPH 6.5 sec (MT est) EPA FUEL ECON, CITY/HWY/COMB Not yet rated EPA RANGE, COMB 339 miles (est) ON SALE 2023 Show All