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
Rich people: give us an electric S class.
Mercedes: here’s your Tesla with Mercedes badge.
It’s crazy to me how much the industry tried to ape Tesla in everything instead just realizing that they were a long-range, tech focused EV and that was the appeal.
The only thing worse than the outside of that … thing is the inside.
That cockpit is an insult to MB’s history.
“They have learned nothing and forgotten nothing.”
It’s.. The Return Of The Blob! Now terrorising theatre (carparks) everywhere!
Not only did they manage to make it uglier but there are, I believe, dozens of three pointed stars on that front to make sure they really drill home that you bought a Mercedes to have a Mercedes and were totally happy foregoing any sort of taste or visual consideration of any kind!
One other thing is some Mercedes infotainment systems have Microsoft Teams built-in to make it even harder to escape work
It looks like a Chevy on the outside. And an arcade on the inside.
Welcome to the Mercedes-Benz EQS where car design is made up and the looks don’t matter.
Feels like the design was made up on improv and Colin Mochrie just made a weird face.
Is this a joke?!?
no, that’s a yoke
What would make this the ultimate new Mercedes is to have the drive by wire yoke work in reverse. Also, swap the brake and accelerator pedals.
Give it time, it’ll happen on its own when they push the first OTA infotainment update.
It would be remarkably difficult to make this thing less appealing, but the kind of weird dork who’d want a yoke on a car ostensibly made for long distance driving where one would want to change hand placement along with disconnected, potential sudden death missile steering would be more likely to not mind the appearance and tacky overuse of logos as anyone who is capable of experiencing joy. SBW is just more electronic trash so they don’t have to be good at the fundamentals and, as these regressive technologies (regressive in terms of intelligent, safe, and resilient) become popular, people forget what a properly engineered car was really like to drive.
I’ll admit I’m curious to try one of these variable ratio steer by wire systems. At first glance I would expect it to be a mess that doesn’t inspire confidence – but reviews of these systems actually report that they’re very intuitive.
Nothing about the EQS is for me, but the spec bump is nice. It’s particularly encouraging that nearly 20% of range was added through chemistry improvements, not just shoving a physically bigger battery in there.
Eventually, we can hold capacity steady and reduce weight which will be a massive virtuous cycle for electric cars.
Even if I liked the idea of those interior screens, those bezels are criminal. How can such an expensive product look like a knockoff iPhone from 2015?
When I saw the headline, I got hopeful that this was totally new and was just an electric S Class. Then I saw the photos and fell asleep to dream of electric sheep.
Can you pass a Voight-Kampff test?
Like wiper fluid in the rain.
ah yes, the apple magic mouse car
carl benz is doing cartwheels in his grave
They somehow made it uglier and added a yoke. Mercedes took the brown acid apparently
Doubling down on dumb.
They’ve completely lost the plot. Every design, every facelift is worse. They’re toast, really, and their reliability reflects that. Bordello on wheels and a terrible face with no gravitas.
The bigger problem not addressed is that the interior materials quality and general fit and finish are a noticeable step down from the ICE S-Class, which they are trying to hide by dazzling people with screens
Serves them right for having shit quality and for chasing the gawdy Chinese domestic market where obnoxious designs like this probably sell. I wonder if there is some green garble inlay option for the Asian markets.
:vomit:
They sold a grand total of 335 EQSs in China last year, 100 of them being AMGs. This is compared to 10.4k Maybach S Class and 10.3k regular S Classes.
Ouch.
Glad to see it. Bad products should be shunned by the market.
Mercedes really has their finger on the pulse of the “rich guy from a dystopian sci-fi movie” demographic.
That’s basically the entire Chinese luxury market that Ze Germans continue do everything in their power to woo and still fail spectacularly….at the expense of literally every other market they’re trying to compete in
It continues to be absolutely hideous, horribly overburdened by useless tech for the sake of tech, and they’ve made the steering worse. Brilliant! Ze Germans have been working overtime to remove every last bit of driver feedback for years now so I guess this is the final frontier.
And a YOKE! WOW! Chasing the Tesla dragon in 2026 is certainly a decision. I’m not sure if Mercedes has let its engineers out in a while but uh…”bootleg Tesla” is probably not a vibe that’s going to sell well these days.
I award Mercedes Benz 0 points and may got have mercy on their souls.
Billy Madison’s principal to Mercedes-Benz:
“At no point in your rambling, incoherent design were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational design. Everyone on The Autopian (and elsewhere!) is now dumber for having burned their eyeballs from seeing it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.”
The YOKE is a JOKE
When I read the title, I assumed you meant the fact that it’s still called the EQS. That’s a shitty name. German automakers seem to have made a secret pact to give their EVs cringe names only. Q6 e-tron, ID.buzz, iX3 50 xDrive. They make the ORA Funky Cat seem sensibly-named.
I’d rather have a Funky Cat.
Bennifer had an EQS during their brief marriage.
Clearly she preferred a Funky Cat too.
In Audi’s defense, ‘e-tron’ is a much better way of branding an EV than ‘with EQ Technology’
Except about 300+ million francophones read that as “turd.”
I pity the third owner of these.
I pity the first owner of these
Looks like total shite and it will only look worse in person.
“Hey Engineering – People are trading in their S Classes for Tesla Model S”
“Okay Marketing – We’d better come up with our own car to compete with the Model S”
*years later*
“Hey Marketing – Here is our new Model S competitor – The EQS”
“Uh, Engineering – Nobody is buying the EQS”
“Why not? We gave them a Mercedes version of the Model S!”
“Uh, what they really wanted was an electric S Class. Like what BMW did with their 7 Series.”
“Okay Marketing – Here’s a yoke for you. And Styling gave us the face of a fish on top of a fake grille. Because ugly sells – Right?”
“Please stop.”
“But Styling gave you more stars! And laurel leaves!”
“Just no.”
You nailed it. I was reading about Halibut last night and you’ve made me realise what the new CLA and now EQS front end looks like. A huge, powerful but incredibly ugly fish, that is a bottomfeeder and needs to be shot.
Mercedes is really going to keep with the unibrow fish design language, huh?
No matter how many times I see it, I’m still struck by how ugly it is.
It is shocking how bad it is