New Mercedes EQE SUV: prices, specs and first ride impressions

• Range of up to 334 miles in 350 4MATIC guise
• On sale now from £90,560
• We’ve already sampled it from the passenger seat

The Mercedes EQE SUV is now on sale, with prices starting from £90,560. Designed to sit above the Mercedes EQA, EQB and EQC but below the flagship EQS, the new model joins the range as a rival for cars like the BMW iX, Audi e-tron, and new Polestar 3. We’ve already been for a ride in it, so read on for our first impressions from the passenger seat.

2023 Mercedes EQE prices and trim levels

The new Mercedes EQE is available with two different powertrain setups, as well as four distinct trim levels: AMG Line, AMG Line Premium, AMG Line Premium Plus and Business Class. Living up to its £90,560 price tag, the entry-level EQE AMG Line comes utterly loaded with standard equipment. This includes 20-inch alloy wheels, adaptive LED headlights, AIRMATIC air suspension and a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, alongside a 12.8-inch portrait touchscreen – as seen in the latest Mercedes S-Class.

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Next up is the £99,260 AMG Line Premium, which boasts 21-inch alloy wheels, an upgraded Burmester sound system, a built-in dashcam and clever ‘augmented reality’ navigation, which can project directions onto the road via a live camera feed displayed on the central touchscreen. The awe-inspiring 56-inch Hyperscreen is also available as an option on AMG Line Premium cars, costing an eye-watering £7,995.

The Hyperscreen setup comes as standard on range-topping AMG Line Premium Plus and Business Class models which are priced at £112,260. AMG Line Premium Plus also boasts even larger 22-inch alloys, Digital LED headlights, a head-up display, voice commands and noise insulating glass. Buyers can also choose the Business Class specification for no extra cost; this focuses on passenger comfort and includes a TV tuner, a heated steering wheel and advanced seat heating packages, including a heated centre console and armrests.

AMG Line Premium Plus and Business Class cars also come as standard with rear-wheel steering to aid with low-speed manoeuvres. The more-powerful 500 4MATIC powertrain can also be added, bringing the price up to £121,760.

Design and interior

Similar in its overall design to the EQS, the EQE SUV takes a number of its styling cues from its bigger brother. The EQE gets an almost identical blanked-off grille, as well as a set of headlamps distinguishable only by its two triangular lighting elements – of which the EQS has three.

The EQE is available with alloy wheels ranging in diameter from 19 to 22 inches, while a variety of leather colours are available including black, blue grey and brown. Buyers can also specify optional side steps which work alongside a number of additional creases and features in the bodywork to improve the car’s aerodynamics.

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Inside, the EQE gets the option of Mercedes’ 56-inch MBUX Hyperscreen infotainment display. Comprising three screens under a single pane of glass, this system first made its debut on the Mercedes EQS limousine. Elsewhere, the EQE SUV features a mixture of high-end leather, wood and metal finishes, as well as plenty of driver assistance systems.

Boot space measures 520 litres, which is 20 litres bigger than the iX, but down on the e-tron’s maximum capacity. Fold the seats down in the EQE and you’ll reveal 1,675 litres in total; there’s no storage under the bonnet but the Mercedes does offer a space under the boot floor for the charge cables.

Range and charging

Buyers can choose from one of two powertrain setups: the 350 4MATIC and 500 4MATIC. Both utilise a dual-motor 90kWh battery setup, providing a range of up to 334 miles in the EQE 350 4MATIC – 500 4MATIC models will return 10 miles less on the combined WLTP test. An energy-efficient heat pump comes as standard, so it theoretically should be relatively easy to get close to these figures in the winter months.

The 350 4MATIC powertrain can be equipped with any trim level and outputs 288bhp for a 0-60mph time of 6.6 seconds. Stepping up to the 500 4MATIC is only possible for buyers of AMG Line Premium models and above; this setup produces an even more potent 402bhp and will propel the two-and-a-half tonne EQE SUV from 0-62mph in just 4.9 seconds.

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Mercedes has confirmed that the SUV matches its saloon sibling’s 170kW maximum charge speed, which results in a 10-80% charge time of around 30 minutes if you can find a suitably fast public charge point. A 7.4kW home wallbox is likely to take between 14 and 15 hours for a full charge.

Coming at a later date is the Mercedes-AMG EQE 53 SUV; this outputs a monstrous 617bhp and 950Nm of torque, while adding the AMG Dynamic Plus Package boosts this to 678bhp and 1,000Nm. With that package equipped, the AMG EQE will get from 0-62mph in 3.5 seconds and hit 149mph.

Mercedes EQE SUV first ride impressions

We first hopped in an EQE SUV AMG Line with a 90kWh battery. Even in its softest setting, the EQE SUV still remains fairly poised in the corners. We soon switch to Sport and then Sport Plus mode, but the ride comfort remains. Despite a kerbweight well over 2.5 tonnes, there’s not much body roll; the EQE’s excessive bulk is kept at bay by electronic anti-roll bars, however, we imagine a lot of the weight will be felt through the steering wheel. As you’d expect there’s a selection of brake regen modes, with three different levels of severity and one mode that adjusts to the driver’s inputs. 

Sound in electric cars is a hot topic, with companies like BMW even hiring legendary composer Hans Zimmer to provide a backing track to its iX. Mercedes has also decided to give the EQE SUV its own soundtrack, made up from three levels of sound: Silver Waves, Vivid Flux and Roaring Pulse. Our driver says it sounds like the Starship Enterprise and there’s certainly a sci-fi element to it. The overall experience is helped by an excellent Burmeister sound system, which is likely to be an optional extra.

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Not many will complain over the actual pace of the EQE SUV. There’s 402bhp and a 0-62mph time of 4.9 seconds, the instantaneous torque of the dual-motor, four-wheel drive system results in a satisfying surge of acceleration. 

Next we got to sample the Mercedes-AMG EQE 53 model, which features the same 90kWh battery as the standard versions, but tweaked to 617bhp and 950Nm of torque. Even with the weight of the EQE SUV, the system propels this family SUV down the road with ease. The AMG comes with its own sound as well, which is much more aggressive in its tone without trying to mimic a combustion engine. 

The EQE SUV 53 dispatches the corners pretty well, with only a faint sense of understeer. It all feels pretty well-balanced from the passenger seat. Like the regular EQE SUV there’s four-wheel steering, which is limited to nine degrees of turning on the rear axle instead of ten because of the AMG’s wider tyres and should provide greater manoeuvrability at lower speeds, plus extra stability when on the motorway. 

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