When Mercedes-Benz introduced the EQS in 2021, it was meant to stand as the pinnacle of the company’s lineup alongside the legendary S-Class sedan. Despite a swath of new tech inside, good range, and solid dynamics, the EQS hasn’t really risen to the same heights as the S-Class. You could argue that it’s because the EQS is electric, but really, I think it has a lot to do with the car’s looks.
Instead of designing an EV that happened to look like a normal S-Class, Mercedes went in an entirely different, aero-focused direction to squeeze out a bit more range, giving the EQS its own polarizing looks. Whether you think it looks like an egg, a jellybean, or a squished Dodge Intrepid, it hasn’t exactly been a hit for the brand.
Mercedes tried to correct this a bit in 2024, when it launched a refreshed EQS with a new grille that included a set of horizontal strakes and even a hood ornament, to make it look a little bit more like its gas-powered sibling. But from afar, there really wasn’t much changed.
I’m here to report to you that Mercedes has replaced, redeveloped, or refined “more than a quarter” of the EQS for the 2027 model year. But almost none of those parts are related to the car’s design. Hey, at least it has a steering yoke now.
Big Leaps In Range
If battery performance and range are more important to you than looks, the refreshed EQS should excite you. Mercedes says the drivetrain architecture is fundamentally all new, with a bigger battery now running on 800-volt tech and paired to in-house developed electric motors. The rear-axle-mounted motor also gets a two-speed gearbox for more efficiency and better acceleration, similar to the setup used on the Porsche Taycan.
While the dimensions of the battery have remained the same, the “volumetric energy density of the cell chemistry” has increased, according to Mercedes. That means an increased usable capacity of 122 kWh. The result, according to the brand, is a WLTP range of 925 kilometers (574 miles) for the rear-drive EQS 450+ model. That’s a sizeable increase over the last version, which could only go 780 kilometers (480 miles) on the European test cycle.
Those WLTP numbers are usually a bit optimistic compared to EPA estimates, but because we have before and after figures, we can do some simple math to figure out, roughly, how much more range the EQS 450+ will get when it comes to America. The jump in the numbers above represents a 18.5% increase in range. And the previous EQS 450+ has an EPA-rated range of 390 miles. Add another 18.5%, and you get 462 miles. This is just speculation, of course, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the number is close.
Ah Yes, The Yoke
Beyond the new drivetrain setup, the steering yoke is certainly the biggest change for 2027. It comes as part of the optional steer-by-wire system, the first such system implemented into a Mercedes-Benz production vehicle. Choose it, and your physical connection to the front wheels is eliminated in favor of a purely electronic connection.
There are a few advantages to a steer-by-wire system. The packaging makes it easier for automakers to design cabins, since they don’t have to worry about placing the steering column correctly. It eliminates unwanted vibrations from imperfections in the road from reaching your fingertips. And it allows you to make big steering inputs without actually having to turn the wheel a huge amount. The downside is, of course, that if something goes wrong, your hands aren’t physically connected to the front wheels that steer the car. Mercedes is pretty confident it has its bases covered on that. From the release:
To ensure steer-by-wire meets the brand’s strict safety standards, the design utilizes a redundant system architecture in addition to high-precision sensors and powerful control units. These two signal paths ensure steering capability is always guaranteed. Lateral control is also possible through rear-axle steering and targeted wheel-specific braking interventions via the ESP®.
Whether swapping out a normal, round wheel for a yoke will make things easier or more confusing isn’t really clear right now. Mercedes says the “flatter steering wheel,” as it calls the yoke, “noticeably opens up the space for the driver, improves the view of the driver display, and makes ingress and egress easier.” I have my reservations, but I’ll save final judgment for when I actually drive the thing. Who knows, maybe it’s great?
Sort of related: For the first time, the EQS is getting the company’s Airmatic air ride suspension as standard. What’s cool about this system is that is used radars and cameras at the front of the car to scan for imperfections in the road, and adjust the suspension as necessary before it hits said bumps. That’s pretty neat.
Love It Or Hate It, That Face Is Here To Stay
As you can probably already tell, not much has changed in the looks department. The 2027 EQS still carries the same shape as it did six years ago, with only those minor changes to the fascia from 2024 making their way forward.
If you look closely, you’ll notice a few more changes up front. Like the new CLA, the main grille area has been split from the upper portion, which now features a horizontal light bar connecting the two headlight clusters. There’s also a tri-star pattern embedded in the area between the grille slats, and an illuminated hood ornament.
Look even closer, and you’ll see the EQS has been given a slightly different hood shape, with two humps on either side. Interestingly, Mercedes calls these “powerdomes” even though there’s no engine under the hood.
As before, the inside of the EQS is virtually all screen. The company’s “Hyperscreen” setup, which combines three different displays—the instrument cluster, the main infotainment screen, and a passenger screen—into one humongous 55-inch piece of glass to make a dashboard. Sadly, even the volume controls are still on a slider. But if you skip the steer-by-wire option, you’ll get an updated round steering wheel with a physical roller for volume, which is nice.
Will steer-by-wire and its yoke be the thing the EQS needs to succeed? Probably not. But I respect Mercedes for sticking with its big design and tech swings. I wonder what this steer-by-wire yoke would look like in a G-Class.
Top graphic image: Mercedes-Benz
It’s ugly as shit, but man I bet that thing is quiet! Once you’re on the inside, I’m guessing it’s a really, really nice ride.
The sid profile looks a lot like the excellent Citroen C6. Unfortunately the appearance doesn’t translate to the front.
Mercedes has not looked back at their history of what was successful for them, stylish clean design, incredibly solid build and a bit of Mercedes over engineered quirkiness. A W126 could teach a lot to modern Benz designers.
I got my pops a 23 EQS 580 that had an original msrp of 157k for 42k last fall with 16k miles on the clock.
Traded in his w222 s class for it. At that price, it’s a no brainer
At the right, very low price, I would get used to the looks.
It still has the windshield washer fluid door on the side! WTF! I get not wanting an opening hood, but you couldn’t put a little flap under the wipers themselves?
For me the design issue is not the shape, it’s the face! You can make a nice-looking car that’s still aerodynamic, the problem is that the front looks like a melting wax figure of a god damn Bigmouth Billy Bass.
Yip, probably does not have any air intakes either, as electric motors usually run cool and the fans and radiators needed to cool batteries for fast charging need to be next to the batteries, not miles away.
Bigmouth Bill Bass. That is a very good description of the front face design.
I just like the “drive it all day, charge it at night” range! The rest of it not so much.
Gotta love the nose cone look taken right off the 2012-16 Model S. And the yoke… so played out even Tesla stopped pushing it.
I like that Mercedes swung for the fences on the aero, and the fact that everyone hates these makes me kinda want it more…. Combined with the fact that they are now under $30k… tempting…
I feel like this would cause Toto Wolff more stress than the FIA’s potential PU changes if he were paying attention. Stress of “we spent too much making a car with a Cessna yoke and drive-by-wire…we’re….gonna have to let the F1 program go…”
I mean, sure. It may be ugly and expensive, but at least the quality is bad!
Did you catch the low miles one that Tyler Hoover bought for his YouTube channel? The interior quality wasn’t just bad, it was *horrific*. Like 80s GM bad in terms of squeaks and creaks. And these things depreciate like they are rocket-propelled straight down a cliff (why he bought it).
You would have to be out of your damned mind to buy one new. And as much as I love *simple* German cars, even more out of you damned mind to own one out of warranty.
As someone who excels at wiring, I’m much less afraid of old luxury cars than most.
There is a huge difference between a w140 and this thing. Mechanicals and wiring don’t scare me – but niether of us are repairing a 6ft wide door to door screen. And you can bet your ass that unlike the old Mercedes I have owned in the past, getting parts for these other than in five-figure assemblies will not be possible. And that’s before getting into how locked down with encryption all of the electronics are, which mean fixing anything electronic needs mothership intervention (Volvo has been doing this for decades). Which is not uncrackable, but what are the chances anyone bothers?
They’ll get cheap enough that someone will use Canalyzer or similar and decode them, cause the juice will be worth the squeeze at that point.
Availability of parts at a low cost always moves the needle. Worst case, they’ll get harvested for swaps and be wired up with aftermarket controllers.
Or they will just get junked. Like most old luxury cars. There won’t ever be enough of them to bother reverse engineering this crap when you can just get an almost certainly better setup from a Tesla that has all it’s mysteries solved already.
I’m pretty sure Steve Jobs would have driven the original EQS – He would’ve probably have hated the interior, but we would have appreciated the overall concept and the combination of subtle elegance and imposing size. It was so subdued and subtle compared to the S-class, no big chrome grill, not 1000 logos plastered on the outside.. just classy. Well, they completely ruined it now.
Jobs usually drove MB coupes or roadsters… so I’m unsure whether or not he’d want this sedan.
I’ve never heard a better argument to not buy a car.
Did they ever improve the brakepedal feeling? Last time I drove a EQS was in 2024. Boy, never experienced such a bad brake pedal. Felt like there was air in the system.
You can smell the 2021 model s from the 2027 eqs. You think at some point someone would look around and go maybe this didn’t work out so well so let’s not but nope. Build quality is probably just as horrific as the last one. It really looks like something from China 4 years ago you could get for $20k. With the quality of the last was they would be better off the stick the merc star on the a Chinese car and call it a day. Include the leather smell aroma module at purchase to fool people a little.