2023 Mercedes-EQ EQE SUV First Drive: Compelling if Not the Most Exciting

Mercedes-Benz continues its march toward the complete electrification of its fleet by 2030 with perhaps the all-electric-car subbrand's most important product to date: the 2023 Mercedes-EQ EQE SUV.

Bland and confusing naming aside, Mercedes-EQ's small SUV offering is poised to become the Mercedes-EQ sales leader in crossover-hungry America. Built on the nearly ubiquitous MEA (Mercedes Electric Architecture) platform, powertrain-wise the 2023 Mercedes EQE SUV is closely related to the EQS sedan, EQE sedan, and EQS SUV. In terms of size, its wheelbase is 2.0 inches longer than a Mercedes-Benz GLE, but the vehicle is 2.0 inches shorter than its gasoline-powered relative overall.

Available with one or two motors and a 90.6-kWh battery pack, the new EQE SUV can travel up to 279 EPA-rated miles. Bookmark that last part. The big question, however, is: In the face of well-established (Tesla Model Y) and emerging (BMW iX, Cadillac Lyric, Genesis GV60) competition, is the 2023 Mercedes-EQ EQE SUV worth your money?

Mercedes has quickly iterated its EQ brand, with the 2023 EQE SUV being the sixth of seven EQ models we know of. First was the Mercedes-EQ EQS, followed by the EQE sedan (the names are hard to grok, and Mercedes will reportedly drop the EQ brand name in the not-too-distant future), the AMG version of the EQS, and the EQS SUV. Now comes the EQE SUV, and soon you'll see the final vehicle built on the MEA platform, the upcoming Mercedes-Maybach EQS 680 SUV, the Maybach subbrand's first all-electric offering.

In the U.S., three trim levels will be available for the EQE SUV—the 350+, 350 4Matic, and the 500 4Matic. The EQE SUV 350+ has a single rear-mounted motor that's good for 288 hp and 417 lb-ft of torque. The 350 4Matic adds a second motor to the front axle; horsepower output remains 288, but torque increases to 564 lb-ft. Sounds odd, but Mercedes is keeping the price of both EQE SUVs the same. For $79,050, you choose between range with the EQE350+ SUV or all-wheel-drive traction and more torque with the EQE350 4Matic. The EQE500 4Matic luxury SUV starts at $90,650 and pumps out 402 hp and 633 lb-ft from its two motors.

Both of the 350 models ship with a standard Mercedes infotainment screen, whereas the 500 gets the EQS' audacious MBUX Hyperscreen. As a driver I prefer the normal screen, but as a passenger, Hyperscreen provides you with a bunch of fun functionality via a screen of your own. MBUX's functionality is impressive, if not second to none in the industry. However, the logic of it, i.e., where options and abilities are hidden, requires a total rethink. For instance, you cannot access the head-up display via the Settings menu. Instead, you must know to hit a physical button that shows an icon of a car, which is literally the same icon displayed on the screen for Settings. That's bad.

The rest of the interior is what you've come to expect from a modern Mercedes. It's well appointed with top-shelf materials (especially the cool neoprene-like material made from all sorts of recycled stuff that's found on top of the dash and the waistrails), great heated/cooled/massaging seats, and some pretty nifty design, save for the all-encompassing Hyperscreen. Inside, the EQS SUV feels a bit smaller than a GLE from the front seats, though rear-seat room is commodious. The EQE SUV is two-row only; luggage space is decent, but the D-pillar's reverse rake eats into it.

Where the 2023 Mercedes EQE SUV shines is efficiency; specifically little tricks that, when taken together, add up to big range gains. First, heating is now mostly handled by a heat pump. Heat generated from the motors and the battery is recycled throughout the cabin. This adds up to 10 percent to the EQE SUV's range in cold weather, according to Mercedes. What does cold weather mean? I expected a typically precise German response such as, "Cold weather is 3.33 to -17.9 degrees centigrade," but instead was simply told, "When it's cold." There's also a conventional heater to kick things off before the vehicle begins moving and the motors and batteries start producing heat. Thus you can precondition the car's internal temperature via the official app. Does this mean a 4Matic (dual-motor) EQE SUV will perhaps run more efficiently than a single-motor model? Yes, especially because of the next efficiency trick.

In 4Matic versions, the front motor comes with a DCU, or disconnect unit. Essentially, the front driveshafts can be quickly decoupled from the motor. This disengagement/re-engagement takes just 240 milliseconds to complete, and the EQE SUV's brain constantly determines whether or not to power the front wheels. The whole process is complicated, but factors considered include drive mode, temperature, navigation information, camera and radar data, as well as weather information. Think of it as continuously variable damping, only here it's for continuously variable traction/performance or range. The DCU can improve the range by up to 6 percent.

Aerodynamics also plays a major role in the EQE SUV's efficiency. When fitted with 19-inch wheels and those goofy running boards, Mercedes claims the EQE SUV achieves a drag coefficient of just 0.25, which, if true, is fantastic for an SUV—any SUV—with such a massive frontal area. Adding bigger wheels hurts the drag coefficient, ratcheting it up to 0.27 on the 22-inch wheels. Side note: For the first model year, American-market EQE SUVs will only be available with optional 21-inch wheels. The 22s aren't coming to our shores immediately, but Mercedes says this omission will be resolved soon. The biggest contribution to the lowered drag number? The front wheel spoilers, which, when combined with the treated underside of the running boards, contribute nine miles of range.

How do you help maximize all these efficiency variables? Pull the right-side steering-wheel paddle toward you for one full second. This places the EQE SUV into Intelligent Recuperation. This hidden mode ("hidden" because it's been on every Mercedes-EQ product I've ever driven and no one's bothered to mention it until an efficiency workshop I attended during this launch) does several things, including varying the amount of energy regen. Porsche raised some eyebrows recently by claiming one-pedal driving, i.e. heavy brake regeneration, is not the most efficient way to drive. According to Mercedes, it depends, which is exactly what Intelligent Recuperation does. At certain points, dictated by the computer, the EQE SUV sails like a Taycan. At others, both normal and heavy regenerative braking is employed. Again, all sorts of information is calculated to make these decisions, just like with the DCU. How's it feel? Odd, which is probably why it's a hidden mode. Why odd? Because in situations the driver deems to all be the same, the car will vary its behavior. Humans don't like that.

Over in Portugal where Mercedes chose to introduce its newest electric SUV, the German giant had the new EQE SUV on three different tire sizes: 19, 21, and 22 inches. Curiously, and again, we were told the largest tire size is not coming to the U.S. when the EV goes on sale later this spring. We did a little digging as to why that is, and it turns out there's some sort of internal engineering target the EQE SUV does not meet when riding on the big wheels. We weren't told what the target is, but it's ride quality. Being horsepower junkies, my drive partner and I grabbed the key to the EQE500 4Matic SUV first, and from the moment we set tire onto a less than ideal Portuguese back road, we were both stunned by the uncharacteristically poor road manners. But again, Americans will never touch that vehicle on those wheels (unless you happen to work at the factory in Alabama where it's built), so no worries.

I sampled an EQE350+ SUV on 19-inch wheels and an EQE350 4Matic SUV on 21s, and the ride quality was much better in both. Body control through corners while being driven in a sporty manner left something to be desired, however. The EQE SUVs never felt totally planted or fully damped, but at least on the 19- and 21-inch-equipped vehicles nothing was harsh. Going with that, the high-end feel of the cabin turns all such quibbles into, "Wow, what a nasty stretch of road." Especially when you have the massaging seats cranked up and are basking in the cabin's silence. Handling is pretty much OK, though I preferred the cornering abilities of 21-inch tires on the EQE350 4Matic SUV. I'd lump that particular model into the "Almost Sporty" category. The brake-pedal strategy—Mercedes-EQ products move the physical pedal without you touching it when you lift off the throttle and the regenerative brakes activate—remains odd, though left-foot braking mitigates the sensation somewhat as your southpaw foot is sort of aware of what's going on.

Should you choose, Mercedes has four electric soundscapes for you to listen to, including a new-to-the-EQE SUV package called Serene Breeze. What's it sound like? From the 37-page press release, "Serene Breeze offers a relaxed sound that is close to nature. The sound character picks up on the theme of wellness and unfolds an independent, unagitated interaction mechanism in the driving sound. The result is a symphonic blend of natural sound and a sublime soundtrack."

Sure. As you know, electric cars don't make much noise, so to liven things up these soundscapes make accelerative noises when you punch it. Personally, I dug Vivid Flux, which sort of sounds like Manga robots jumping in slow motion. Sort of. As the years roll by, you'll be able to download new soundscapes via over-the-air updates. Will these be gratis? I hope so.

Like most battery-electric vehicles, all three EQE SUVs sampled were quick off the line. We know the EQS580 SUV is capable of hitting 60 mph in 4.1 seconds and busting through the quarter mile in 12.6 seconds at nearly 112 mph. The EQE500 SUV is lighter than its three-row sibling and makes the same amount of torque (633 lb-ft) but is quite down on horsepower (402 versus 536) and battery size/voltage. Based on the above, expect the 0-60 time to be in the same low-4-second range and the quarter-mile time to be a half-second behind. In other words, good enough. Mercedes says the single-motor EQE350+ SUV will hit 60 mph in 6.3 seconds. As for the EQE350 4Matic SUV, it'll most likely be similar, though a touch slower, than the EQE350 sedan we tested: 0-60 mph in 5.2 seconds and the quarter mile in 13.9 seconds. Not spanking, but for most customers, good enough.

"Good enough" might be the operative phrase when talking about the new 2023 Mercedes-EQ EQE SUV. It's not a standout in terms of design or performance, but Mercedes' newest SUV separates itself from the crowd in terms of both efficiency and luxury. As we've seen with other Mercedes-EQ vehicles, as well as with the BMW iX and even the Porsche Taycan, the EPA-estimated ranges tend to be low, off by about 10 percent.

The reason for this requires a separate article, but the quick version is that German companies build electric cars to perform well on the Euro WLTP cycle, not on the EPA's test. U.S. customers therefore shouldn't be surprised to find they get more range than advertised out of these electric SUVs. How exactly the EQE SUV stacks up against the competition will have to get sorted out by a future comparison test, but my guess says many people coming out of Tesla Model Ys will see the Mercedes as a much more cosseting, luxurious, and compelling SUV alternative. Sure, the EQE could be more exciting overall, but leave that for the probably coming-soon AMG version. For those looking for an electric two-row Mercedes-Benz SUV right now, it's here.