The first Mercedes on a platform specially developed for EVs is not a medium-sized crossover, but a top limousine EQS. This has been well thought out, because according to Mercedes-Benz this is the way to get the EV in particular Americans.
The EQS will enable Mercedes to “capture its position at the center of luxury and technology”, Daimler CEO Ola Källenius reported through Automotive News Europe. In other words: the EQS pulls out all the stops as a top limousine and also shows people who can’t afford it what Mercedes is capable of in the EV field.
The S-class is perhaps even more a symbol of ultimate luxury in North America than here, and the electric equivalent naturally benefits from that. According to Källenius, the EQS helps to establish a foothold in the EV in the US and really puts Mercedes on the map as an EV builder in the country. The EQS was therefore first launched in the US, while the regular S-class arrived in the US well after its European introduction.
An additional advantage of an electric top limousine: this segment does not involve large numbers, so any delivery problems due to, for example, the chip shortage do not play such a major role. After Mercedes put itself in the American spotlight with the electric flagship, the adoption of smaller and more affordable models should also become easier.
Of course, the EV brand par excellence, Tesla, also comes from the US. In that sense it is somewhat pedantic to shout from Europe that Americans can’t get used to EVs, but the EV is considerably less accepted in large parts of the US than here. Logical, because in Europe many billions in subsidies have gone through to get to where we are now. In 2020, about 2 percent of cars sold in the US were electric. In Western Europe, the share was 6.7 percent in the same year.
Opening photo: One of the first series production units of the EQS is intended for the North American market. Note the orange side markers and reflectors.