The 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV Delivers High-Tech Luxury

• US pricing for the EQE 350+ SUV starts at $79,050 (with destination) in Premium trim. Topping the range is the EQE 500 SUV 4Matic in Pinnacle trim, at $96,600.
  

• Mercedes’ new Disconnect Unit decouples the front motor from the axle in certain low-load conditions, boosting efficiency and reducing friction in the EQE SUV.

• An excellent navigation system and a set of easy-to-use infotainment controls lets the driver keep eyes on the road.
  

For almost 140 years, Mercedes-Benz (and its corporate predecessors) have been tinkering with combustion engines. After a century of explosive work there—in an industry with nearly two decades of impressive advances in vehicle electrification—the company’s engineers are accepting new challenges in the form of the all-electric EQ family.

We’ve gotten to know the EQS and EQE Sedans and the EQS SUV, so it was familiar territory when we met the fourth member of the family, the 2023 EQE SUV, during a recent test drive in southern Portugal.

As the name suggests, the EQE SUV is a utility version of the EQE Sedan. Mercedes calls it the “multipurpose variant.” There’s obviously more room for people and things and a higher seating position, but one of the more significant differences is the SUV’s 119.3-inch wheelbase, which is 3.5 inches shorter than the sedan’s. That change makes the SUV easier to maneuver, especially when equipped with optional rear-wheel steering tech.

The EQE SUV advances Mercedes’ electric vehicle work in two ways. First, as we learned when Mercedes unveiled this people hauler last fall, the number of good-looking luxury EV options continues to grow. Second, a small but crucial technological advance—Mercedes’ new DCU in the EQE SUV—speaks to the long-term improvements we will keep seeing in this EV revolution.

Mercedes wouldn’t let all this new tech come wrapped in anything but a stylish package. The two-row EQE SUV manages this without being desperate for attention. Newcomers might feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of tech in the dashboard, especially with the optional MBUX Hyperscreen and the plethora of safety features, but they will be familiar to anyone who’s spent time in other Mercedes EQ EVs.

The excellent navigation system and a set of easy-to-use infotainment controls let me keep my eyes on the narrow roads around Lisbon. It was criminally easy to stay on track when I used the optional head-up display. No matter the trim level, the EQE SUV accepted plenty of safe challenges to overtake slower-moving traffic on straightaways.

The three trim levels start with the EQE 350+, which offers up to 279 miles of range along with a maximum power output of 288 hp and 417 lb-ft of torque. The EQE 350 4Matic can go up to 253 miles and also produces up to 288 hp but with 564 lb-ft of torque thanks to the second motor.

Finally, the EQE 500 4Matic produces up to 402 hp and 633 lb-ft, along with a maximum range of 269 miles. All three versions use a 90.6-kWh lithium-ion battery pack. All your favorite EQ technologies are here: the optional air suspension, over-the-air updates, and intelligent EV-specific navigation.

There are a lot of clever aerodynamic decisions at work in the EQE SUV, including something Mercedes named the “9 o’clock spoiler” for its position just forward of the rear driver’s side wheel (it’d be the “3 o’clock spoiler” on the passenger side), where it redirects airflow away from the spinning tire.

The EQE SUV offers four levels of regenerative braking. Strong recuperation, normal recuperation, and no recuperation modes are self-explanatory. The fourth mode, intelligent recuperation, blends aspects of the other modes and adapts braking levels based on map topology and current speed limits. Tesla drivers who like their grippy regen brakes will probably keep the EQE SUV in strong recuperation mode, but I found it to be too much.