Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV

 Mercedes-Benz not only provided a near-to-production-ready prototype of the new EQE saloon for us to drive during digital system development testing in Sweden last week, its engineering team also brought along an even bigger surprise in the form of prototype of its upcoming EQS 4Matic SUV.

Set to see UK sales by the end of 2022, the plush seven seater is the third EQ model to be based on the German car maker’s dedicated EVA2 platform. It is also the first to hail from its plant in Tuscaloosa, USA, where it will be produced alongside the smaller but heavily related EQE SUV due out in 2023.

As it wore extensive disguise, there’s obviously not a lot we can tell you about the styling of the EQS SUV that you probably won’t have already gleaned from the photographs here. In line with its positioning, though, we can reveal it is longer, wider and a good deal higher than the already substantially sized EQS saloon, with which it not only shares its platform but also its electric drivelines, interior architecture and a whole lot more. 

The proportions of the big electric SUV are quite a bit different to Mercedes-Benz’s more traditional combustion engine SUV models, with a significantly shorter bonnet, longer wheelbase accommodating a large cabin and relatively short rear overhang.

“It’s not a conversion design,” says Holger Enzmann, head of vehicle integration for models based on Mercedes-Benzs EVA2 platform, suggesting it hasn’t just been adapted from a combustion engine model, as is the case with the smaller GLC based EQC SUV. “Rather, it has been developed from the ground up without the compromises you eventually run into when backing onto an existing platform.”