What’s a flagship product?

It’s usually either the leading article from a company or one that placed it on the map to begin with, the foundation of its eminence. In the case of Mercedes-Benz, that’ll be the S-Class.

That’s what the automotive sphere knows them for and regardless of if they even begin building rockets to challenge Elon Musk’s SpaceX, the S-Class will continue to be the basis that it will be judged upon.

However, now that the age of electrification has descended upon us, Stuttgart’s boffins had to decide if that meant the flagship S-Class will get the ICE-less treatment as a variant along its traditional fossil fuel burning petrol and hybrid variants as well.

Would that be a step too bold and actually devalue the fabled Sonderklasse badge given that EVs aren’t quite as established to what many deem the more traditional customer base of Mercedes-Benz?

In the end, they gave us the Mercedes-Benz EQS, a bespoke electric model that isn’t an electrified S-Class (unlike the BMW i7 that's also way pricier at RM 729,800) but is purportedly a similarly sized luxury EV sedan that seems intentionally engineered to be as close as possible to the S-Class without outshining it and fading its lustre.

After all, every new iteration of the S-Class redefines luxury but with the EQS, you just know they had to artificially reign it in to remain a hair’s width behind their pride and joy.

What is it?

We’ve previously sampled the EQS 450+ that signified the marque’s flagship EV entering the Malaysian market in CBU form. Now that the model is locally-assembled (CKD), the powertrain has been bumped up to give us the Mercedes-Benz EQS 500 4Matic that’s even quicker and the one under the spotlight in this piece.

Nonetheless, it does look a little less intimidating as it loses the CBU model’s futuristic multi-spoke wheels and AMG-Line exterior, the latter replaced with what Mercedes calls the Electric Art Line.

Also Read: Review: 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS 450+ in Malaysia - The best luxury EV yet

However, more power is always better and the EQS 500 4Matic being assembled in Pekan, Pahang, did lower the price by RM 50k to RM 648,888. The shells are pre-painted in Germany but everything else is assembled here.

Also Read: More power but at RM 50k lower price, CKD 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQS 500 4Matic is launched in Malaysia - from RM 648,888

Exterior

Being an EV necessitated a slippery design and as a bespoke model built on the dedicated Electric Vehicle Architecture (EVA) platform, it allowed the engineers to do just that.

Much like all EVs that prioritise aerodynamic efficiency to improve range, the jellybean-shaped side silhouette of the EQS is courtesy of that.

But Mercedes being Mercedes, they didn’t just design one of the lowest drag coefficient cars. That’s not ze German way. They instead penned the world’s slipperiest production car with a drag coefficient of just 0.20, or in layman’s terms, the slipperiness of an orang minyak on the run.

Overall, it certainly carries the presence of a flagship product. Shouldering the responsibilities of what the world deems the future of mobility, EVs are expected to project a futuristic appearance and the EQS nails it.

The cab-forward design and crease-free exterior results in a buttery-smooth body that looks like a concept car, which is precisely what we’d anticipate future mobility to look like.

There’s nothing like it on the road and the necks it strained from people doing double takes on the road is testament to that.

Interior

If someone told us that alongside the Great Wall of China, the MBUX Hyperscreen was another man-made object visible from space, we’d have no reason to doubt you.

Jokes aside, or is it, the Hyperscreen is as insane as it is mesmerising. It’s standard on the EQS sold here but is optional in other markets.

It comprises 3 screens encased in a 141 cm one-piece glass façade spanning almost the entire width of the dashboard. 2 of them are 12.3-inch screens that serve as the instrument cluster and passenger interactive screen with both flanking the larger 17.7-inch central screen.

The primary screen is the command centre for the infotainment and various other settings. Like other cars, you’ll find the air-conditioning controls permanently rendered at the tapered bottom end.

Hit the home button and it defaults to a huge map that is impressive and a set of widgets that alter based on your most frequently used ones.

Remember when we postulated that Mercedes might start building rockets? Well, they’ve probably got enough processors behind there to power a spaceship as the Hyperscreen is fast reacting to the touch. Even reflections aren’t an issue under direct sunlight.

The lucky front passenger can access the navigation, radio or media among other options on their personal screen. Additionally, the passenger’s screen is only activated if the seat is occupied. If the seat is vacant, the screen enters a standby mode that displays various shots of Mercedes concept cars as a wallpaper.

Our guess is most passengers will lose interest in a few mins and return to their default entertainment device, the smartphone. At the end of the day, it’s nothing more than a gimmick, though a cunning one that plays perfectly into the futuristic image meant to be portrayed.

Once you get over the Hyperscreen, the rest of the interior proves to be equally exquisite, typical of a luxurious cabin from Mercedes.

They’ve perfected the mixing of metallic trims, unpolished wood and supple leather to retain the classic ambience of a luxury sedan with modern elements such as the Hyperscreen, illuminated turbine AC vents and ambient lighting without either one overshadowing the other.

All this means diddly squat though if the rear passengers experience isn’t mind-blowingly out of this world. The frameless doors open with the pop out handles that do their thing as you approach the door. We’re not fans of the doors losing their frames as not matter how well-engineered they are, it always feels a little flimsy.

We’d also wager a bet that those pop out handles are the reason the rear doors don’t have sliding sun blinds and let’s be honest, for what’s going to be a limousine ferrying VIPs, you can’t expect them to deal with menial elements such as sunlight.

Same goes for the rear windscreen with its lack of sun blinds and that’s due to the rear hatch design. Speaking of which, having a rear hatch also means the cabin isn’t isolated from the boot.

But we digress, the EQS is still very much up there with the best of luxury sedans. Legroom loses out to the S-Class but unless you ply your trade in the NBA, there’s still room for a semi-reclined adult passenger even with a tall driver. Bear in mind that once again, the sloping rear roofline reduces headroom a little.

All those minor inconveniences are soon forgotten as your head nestles into the fluffy headrests.

Ignore the fact that the EQS is a 5-seater. Flip the armrest down in the rear and treat it like a 4-seater. You’ll enjoy the removable Samsung tablet integrated in the armrest that controls functions in the car as well.

Overall, it comes mighty close to the S-Class in terms of cabin opulence but key omissions such as the blinds and rear seats without the leg rests causes it to miss out on a true first-class experience and is downgraded to business-class, though we know many wouldn’t exactly call that a demotion.

Powertrain

If you’re eager to catch a view of the powertrain, don’t bother. There’s no front bonnet, and no, that’s not a mistake. The front clamshell is entirely sealed for better aero so you can’t even open it. A side effect of that is the quirky pop out gutter on the left front fender to top up the windscreen washer fluid.

But know that this EQS is quick as hell, so you’ll get to that hostile corporate takeover meeting early.

The EQS 500 4Matic gets a dual motor setup over the single motor CBU EQS 450+ that gives drive to all 4 wheels.

Power increases to 449 PS and 828 Nm of torque. The important figures? A century sprint time of 4.8-second and a limited top speed of 210 kph.

The high-voltage 107.8 kWh battery from the 450+ remains but software refinements increased the usable capacity to 108.4 kWh. Unfortunately, that’s negligible as the dual motor setup consumes more power and reduces the WLTP range by close to 100 km to around 695 km.

Charging

The EQS can take up to 200 kW in DC charging but is nonetheless slower than most of its competition, such as the Audi e-tron GT, Porsche Taycan and Tesla but the Audi and Taycan can support 800 V charging which isn't available here yet but does futureproof them.

However, the EQS can still go from 10 to 80 percent in just 30 minutes and will take 10 hours with a 11 kW AC charger from 10 to 100 percent state of charge.

With the dual motor setup and negligible battery capacity upgrade, the real-world range hovered around the 480 km mark. However, like all EVs, it’s completely dependent on your driving style.

In the end, we garnered around 24.5 kWh/100 km over the weekend with the caveat that we were extremely heavy-footed, and you’ll find it difficult to blame us for that.

Driving Impression

Most would imagine that the driving impression for a limousine may rank second to comfort and for most parts, you’d be right. Still, seeing that the EQS is playing second fiddle to the S-Class, it had to be a little pointy to justify its position in the Mercedes portfolio.

Unless you drove the S-Class back-to-back with the EQS, it’s impossible to tell the supple ride apart as you waft along on the air suspension.

Driving modes are standard Mercedes options in the form of Eco, Comfort, Sport and Individual. Again, we’d bet you’ll leave it in ‘Comfort’ 99 percent of the time.

With the weight of the massive battery packs lowering its centre of gravity, the EQS handles a lot closer to a sport sedan than one might expect from a luxury flagship.

Most of it can be attributed to the maximum 10-degrees of rear-wheel steering that lends it the manoeuvrability of an A-Class but with the caveat of an awkward reversing circle, especially with parking.

Ultimately, the rear-wheel steering kicks in at the last-minute and alters the reverse-parking circle that we’re accustomed to at the tail end of the cycle. This did sometimes lead to last-minute steering corrections as the turning circle while reverse-parking would send the rear of the EQS in the direction of the car next to it.

Still, at regular driving speeds, the reverse steering transformed the EQS into the aforementioned A-Class in terms of a virtual wheelbase. It felt a lot more like an A45 AMG than an extended luxobarge and that dual-motor setup blessed it with weight-defying bite in sweeping corners.

To sum it up, the EQS walked that tightrope between comfort and sporty handling with precision but simultaneously, it’s a double-edged sword as well with a lack of distinction between a priority on comfort or handling.

Conclusion

Initially, the EQS didn’t quite seem to fit the mould of a luxury vehicle but that soon proved to be for a solid reason due to the fact that a luxury EV hadn’t yet been defined by Miriam Webster yet.

A flagship luxury EV risked losing the charm and haste of a traditional limousine, as it leaned towards more of an appliance lacking the soulful hum or heartbeat of a V8 or V12.

Nonetheless, the EQS seamlessly blends the smoothness, peace, effortless performance and clever packaging of an EV with the traditional appeal of a flagship motorcar engineered to ferry those waving the flag of cronyism.

In fact, the EQS redefines the traditional definition of a luxobarge as maximising all the core factors of a luxury sedan resulted in a sedan that improved on the limousine.

Yes, there’s plenty of room for improvement such as the rear door blinds and isolation of the cabin from the rear cargo space but in the grand scheme of things, those do pale in comparison to 99 percent of cars on the road.

Oh, what’s that remaining 1 percent you wonder? Well, that’s the actual S-Class that still defines the luxury sedan.