The Mercedes Benz EQS flagship or rather their “S Class” Version of electric luxury sedans has gotten its official range rating from the EPA and its not flattering. EPA announced that the EQS has a maximum range of 350 miles when fully charged.
That number is rather low compared to the other sedans it will be competing with, for instance, Tesla Model S Long Range version has an EPA rating of 405 miles, the current champion – which coincidentally is a luxury sedan – is the Lucid Air with a 520 mile official rating.
In all fairness, the Lucid Air 500 mile is a bit pricier at $139,000 than the EQS that was tested which is the base version that starts at $102,310. However, the Long Range Tesla starts at $89,990 which makes it a better option for buyers prioritizing range in luxury sedans.
It should be noted that the EPA is a bit conservative with range ratings. We reference the case for the Porsche Taycan which got a rather low EPA rating of 201 miles. Porsche had an independent company test the car prior to establish its range and they came up with a maximum rating of 250 miles. In Europe, the same car got a much better rating of 279 miles from the continent’s EPA equivalent, the WLTP.
The reason for the variations in ratings is due to the different testing procedures implemented by the United States EPA vs the European WLTP. It remains to be seen if the customers of the Mercedes-Benz EQS will be bothered much by the rating, because other than that, the vehicle is an excellent luxury electric sedan.