Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV

Has S-Class luxury been successfully packaged into a modern-day high-rise EV? When considering the Mercedes EQS SUV, you find yourself wondering about what is a continuing quandary for the ‘legacy’ car manufacturers: how do you maintain your identity when there are no engines to establish it, and when the traditional rules of vehicle design no longer apply in quite the same way as they have done for 100 years?It clearly has an impact on model hierarchies, as they get frantically rejigged and renamed.The Mercedes S-Class is a well-understood concept: a luxury limousine that’s equally suited to being chauffeur- or owner-driven. The electric Mercedes EQS, while impressive in a number of ways, is more of a technical showcase and less of a prestige saloon. Strictly speaking, it is a hatchback and not a saloon at all.As we will find out, the EQS SUV doesn’t follow tradition any more than its hatch-saloon counterpart and is something rather different from the ‘tall electric S-Class’ that its name would suggest. One look at its stubby bonnet and seven-seat layout confirms as much.That leaves the question of what this EQS SUV is instead, who it’s for, and if this Alabama-built behemoth is just an attempt at making an EV for America, or whether it has any relevance in Europe.The range at a glanceModelsPowerFrom450 4Matic355bhp£129,470580 4Matic536bhp£139,470Mercedes-Maybach EQS 680 SUV649bhptbcYou have the choice of two dual-motor set-ups, the single-motor 450 not being offered in the UK. Each version can be specified in AMG Line Premium Plus or Business Class trim. The latter costs £14,325 extra.A Maybach version arrives later in the year for those who want ultimate opulence when being chauffeured.