The Mercedes Vision EQS is battery-powered luxury

Mercedes-Benz is turning electric and the flagship S-Class limousine is turning electric with it, with the Vision EQS concept giving a strong hint about how it’s going to get there.

The Vision EQS, shown at Frankfurt for the first time, will combine two electric motors to deliver all-wheel drive, along with an entirely new design language and Benz’s first full, dedicated electric-car architecture.

It’s an underbody platform that will underpin an entire range of future Mercedes-Benz electric cars, from premium sedans about the size of the C and E Classes to SUVs, but it will appear first in the production EQS in 2022.

The Vision EQS concept, showing what Benz’s design chief calls “one bow” surface language, will be based off a near production-ready skateboard architecture that will underpin the premium range of Benz’s future electric cars.

The Vision EQS has its battery deep in its floor and two motors delivering 350kW of power and about 760Nm of torque, along with a top speed of beyond 200km/h.

Despite its obvious heft, Benz claims the EQS can flit to 100km/h in 4.5 seconds, even as it stretches out to a 700km range. It’s capable of recharging 80% of the battery in 20 minutes.

Its interior is large and white, with a dashboard panelled in wood that harks to luxury wooden lake boats.

Each headlight hosts a pair of holographic lens modules that join up with the rest of the light layout to give the EQS a 360° light signature.

Just like they do on the current Mercedes-AMG Formula 1 car, there are hundreds of little three-pointed stars that light up as part of the rear tail light and brake light system.

The fully digital front grille, seen before in Vision electric Mercedes-Benz, has 188 individual LEDs to deliver precise signalling to other cars and pedestrians. It’s designed to appear free-floating and three dimensional.

The Vision EQS also introduces Benz’s new user interface system inside what it calls its “large interior sculpture” filled with connected light that surrounds the occupants and haptic air vents.

Its dashboard extends to join the main body of the front trim, while the sculpted seats are covered in a microfibre made from recycled plastic bottles. Even the roofliner comes from recycled ocean waste plastic.