2021 was a year of real breakthrough in everything related to electric vehicles in Israel. Electric model after electric model arrived in Israel, and provided an unequivocal (probably positive) answer to the question of whether we are heading for an electric revolution.
To be honest, we’re already in the revolution, so it’s no wonder that six of the top ten models on last year’s list of cars are 100% electric. One of them, the most spectacular electric model that came to me for a test drive, is the luxurious and innovative Mercedes EQS vehicle, the model similar to the petrol-powered Mercedes S CLASS, only it works on pure electric propulsion.
The highlight of the new EQS is the in-car multimedia system, which jumps EQS into districts that no manufacturer has yet reached. Mercedes breaks its own records and constantly raises the bar, which raises the question of where it can go and how it can still surprise us.
Even before the official launch of EQS in Israel, in December 2021, the manufacturer’s advanced multimedia screen, a glass screen (concave and not straight), 14.1 cm wide, with an aluminum coating to prevent scratches and a frame painted in a three-layer process in silver shadow, was unveiled. The screen is embedded with special lighting that makes the multimedia screen appear floating on the board.
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It’s hard not to admire the quality of the display, and anyone who has managed to purchase a TV with OLED technology will understand. It is a different world, and it is not in the living room, but in the private car, in front of the eyes of the driver and passengers. A word about the MBUX interface: The new Mercedes A CLASS was the first to get the interface, which improved the user experience on several levels, and made the operation intuitive and convenient.
The MBUX system – Mercedes Benz Use Experience – has already come out in an improved second generation and has been implemented in more than 1.8 million Mercedes vehicles, including the S CLASS and the current new queen, the EQS.
The MBUX interface has eight core processors, 24GB of RAM and 46.4GB of memory per second. The system uses artificial intelligence to display the appropriate options for the driver at any given time (such as adjusting the steering wheel and seat temperature), and dozens of other options – from active messaging, through birthday reminders to to-do list reminders – all automatically offered to the user .
The interface maintains up to seven different profiles, of seven drivers, and the driver and passenger next to it can operate it so that each sees its own display and has a dedicated operating area from the seat where it sits. When there is no passenger next to the driver, the screen becomes a mesmerizing decorative digital display.
And we did not talk about the rear-facing tablet screen for passenger use in the back seat, with dozens of settings, direction and choice of audio options, convenience, lighting and more.
The EQS is a next-generation car, like the ones we watched in the movies and thought would appear on our roads only with alien landing on Earth: from automatic door-opening by long-pressing the brake, through long-press automatic brake pedal to luxurious handles with a Mercedes signature, removable and engraved In travel, in favor of maximum aerodynamics, the shape of the EQS, the flat floor, and even the design of the wheels reduces resistance.
The car has an adaptive air suspension system, with the option of lifting and lowering the body. Rear steering system with the option of an angle of up to 10 degrees. It works wonderfully when having to make a horseshoe on a crowded road with a 5.216 meter long vehicle, a kind of small minibus. Noise insulation is excellent, also thanks to double-glazed windows. All of these create a peaceful, quiet and flowing driving experience, and also very powerful, if you will.
Dual-drive EQS, with two electric motors, front and rear, with a combined power of 523 hp and 85.5 kg, a battery capacity of 107.8 kWh and an electric range of up to 627 kilometers (588 real kilometers), with an average power consumption of 20 kWh per 100 km, in combined driving, and without trying to save power or worry about range. With and without driving modes, the acceleration from 0 to 100 km / h in the 580 version takes 4.3 seconds, in a vehicle weighing more than 2.5 Tons.
Mercedes’ original advanced safety systems include lane departure correction systems, autonomous emergency braking, excellent adaptive cruise control, dead-space vehicle detection, two-wheeled and pedestrian detection, automatic level control, at such a level that the lights surround the vehicle in front, and stop Exactly in his image, and not dazzling any part of it. Thanks to the crazy lighting unit at EQS.
The materials, the textiles, the metals, the glass, the lighting units, the vents, the finishes, the sewing – everything looks impeccable and is made sublime.
They seem to have thought of everything in creating the vehicle. The cab and passengers are on a different level of luxury: the upholstery is bright and the sewing is meticulously designed in a luxurious design, there is a variety of screens, mood lighting, climate control split into three areas and different compartments with an elegant opening mechanism. Even the speakers round with the direction of the door. There is no corner that they forgot to address.
The million-dollar feel is enhanced by the comfort options at EQS: from a selection of shades, including color combinations, through lighting around all vehicle occupants to massage options, from almost head to toe, heating and ventilation and electric direction for all five seats in the cabin. And there is also a HEPA filter that filters sulfur dioxides, nitrogen oxides, from the outside, as well as various odors, thanks to the activated carbon coating. The internal air filter prevents the entry of viruses and bacteria.
A peripheral camera and sensor system, which includes a LiDAR sensor, a rear window camera and microphones, is everything out of the ordinary – neither the display quality nor the quality and sensitivity of the sensors. This is another level of technology. Of the new cars launched last year, electric and petrol-powered, small and large, it was hard not to choose it as my car of the year.
Mercedes EQS 580 4Matic, Platinum Plus: NIS 1,290,000.
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