Mercedes-Benz has released a series of videos outlining the interior design and details of its flagship EQS, in an effort to debut the premium electric sedan (but without actually debuting it ahead of its April 15 reveal date).
Adding just a small hint of the concepts behind the new EQS’ exterior, the luxury German carmaker has preferred to focus first on what potential owners will experience most of the time: the sensory input of a premium interior in all its various facets.
Details shared include the vehicle’s high-tech “user experience” design, which does not stop at expansive high-resolution touchscreens and ambient lighting but also includes audio aesthetics, sumptuous seating and even the air you breathe.
Having previously driven the EQC electric SUV, we can vouch for the spectrum of details that Mercedes-Benz brings together to present its step into electric mobility.
Perhaps seeing to divert the attention of a technology-neutral audience away from the clean energy aspects of the carmaker’s EQ series – that is, its all-electric, zero-emissions drivetrain – it would seem that Mercedes-Benz is instead appealing demographic more interested in the high-tech future of mobility.
Breaking down the features with which it hopes to seduce those crowd, this “digital deep dive” outlines an extremely aerodynamic drag coefficient of 0.20 (the lowest for a production vehicle, it says, qualifying this with a 19″ AMG wheel/tyre combination in sport mode, that will be available in Europe from the end of 2021.
But it is the eyes, ears, nose and fingers that also get the goodies in the EQS, it would seem.
Eyes
At first glance, it is obviously the expansive “hyperscreen” that will be noticed by those hopping into one fo these high-tech machines.
Stretching from passenger to driver (like an “ocean wave” says Mercedes), this high resolution touchscreen is integrated with the minimal intervention of a “silver shadow” frame, accompanied by a vent band and narrow leather frame beyond that.
Mercedes-Benz says its intention is to give the impression of an “avante-garde” cockpit and it would seem – particularly with the ambient night-time lighting – that they may have achieved this quite successfully.
Ears
This is combined with a suite of sounds that, curiously, includes audio to ensure that the “paradigm shift from the combustion engine to the electric car acoustically perceptible.”
Two “soundscapes” have been created by the German carmaker’s sound experts: “silver waves” and “vivid flux”. Having recently experienced the “electric sportscar sound” that turns the Porsche Taycan from silent EV to, well, a Porsche, we can’t wait to hear what Mercedes-Benz’ soundscapes have to offer.
Nose
Unpleasant aromas are anathema to any driving experience, and here Mercedes-Benz is keen to ensure its customers are not subjected to such. A large HEPA filter (High Efficiency Particulate Air) seeks to suck out any suspect particles as well as odorous sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides.
Apparently doubling-down on this, an “air-balance” package is also included. This is where things get really fancy (although perhaps not for those with aversions to uninvited fragrances), with Mercedes-Benz even going so far as to design a new perfume for its top-of-the-range electric sedan: “carried by the green note of a fig lying on a piece of linen,” the carmaker says.
Fingers
Haptic feedback is of course the name of the game when it comes to digital interfaces and touch. 12 actuators located under the hyperscreen give touch feedback to users from the MBUX (Mercedes-Benz user experience) which is run by 8 CPU cores, 24 GB RAM and at 46.4 GB per second.
Road sense
Humans may have five senses in all, but get this: the EQS has 350 sensors in all, measuring everything from temperature to lighting conditions to external surrounds and inside, everything about the occupants from how many are seated, what language they speak and even eyelid movements.
If that weren’t enough for what the EQS debut you’re having when you’re not having a debut, Gorden Wagener, chief design officer of Daimler Group highlights the “one-bow” exterior design that is “holistically integrated” with “seamless styling” to give the EQS a sporty yet progressive look.
Wagener waxes lyrical on this: “With our EQS, we have created a completely new, future generation of luxury cars. Based on our style of sensual purity, we create desire by combining a beautifully seductive sculpture with the most progressive proportion.”
“That’s what sets it apart from any other vehicle we have ever created – that’s what makes our EQS so extraordinary,” he said in a statement.
Official specifications will be announced on April 15, 2021.
Bridie Schmidt is associate editor for The Driven, sister site of Renew Economy. She has been writing about electric vehicles since 2018, and has a keen interest in the role that zero-emissions transport has to play in sustainability. She has participated in podcasts such as Download This Show with Marc Fennell and Shirtloads of Science with Karl Kruszelnicki and is co-organiser of the Northern Rivers Electric Vehicle Forum. Bridie also owns a Tesla Model Y and has it available for hire on evee.com.au.