Driving the future: Mercedes-Benz Vision EQS

It might be a concept car, but the Mercedes-Benz Vision EQS is as real as you want.

It’s currently only a futuristic fantasy car, hand-built for motor show display duties, but it’s still a solid pointer to the upcoming battery-electric S-Class flagship from the three-pointed star.

And it works.

From the driver’s seat, on a super-short Australian preview run, the Vision EQS is as convincing as any concept car.

It cannot get anywhere close to Mercedes-Benz’s claims for the EQS, but it starts and drives like a real-world battery-electric car and you only have to squint a little to see it coming down the road as soon as next year.

The production version of the EQS is on-track to join the first battery-powered Benz SUV, the EQC, which is already on sale in Australia priced from $137,900.

The Down Under plan for the Mercedes-Benz EQS was built around a Melbourne double-punch by the three-pointed star, twinning the Vision concept’s local unveiling with traditional Mercedes events at the Australian Grand Prix including the first Australian appearance of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas’ latest F1 racers.

Things looked good as late as Thursday night of GP week, as Hamilton and Bottas joined the EQS for a glittering preview at the Mercedes me store in the Rialto Tower on upscale Collins Street in Melbourne.

The EQS looked stunning and futuristic as its LED lighting show lit up the night.

Then things changed, dramatically, as the F1 race was cancelled and the EQS left to go it alone.

But the exclusive media preview drive of the car – a very, very rare event for any motor show concept car – still went ahead at Mick Doohan’s jet-base at Essendon Airport.

There were comprehensive security checks before the car was revealed, sitting on the apron that is usually occupied by the private jets for people like Tom Hanks and the high fliers of Australian business.

No-one was prepared to discuss the cost of creating the Mercedes-Benz Vision EQS, but around $8 million is a good guess.

It’s a complete one-off, built in Germany for the Frankfurt show and to highlight the EV development work at Benz.

Officially, the car has 350kW and all-wheel drive with an electric motor at each end, a range of up to 700km and a charging time of less than 20 minutes for an 80 per cent hit.

It’s said to have near-supercar performance with a 0-100km/h sprint time of 4.5 seconds.

On the autonomy front, the EQS is Level 3 which means it can take control for hands/feet-free highway cruising where legal, but there is provision for fully computerised driving in the future.

It sits on a modular platform which can be varied for width and length, as well as height, and even the size of battery.

But it’s still a future car, and this is here and now.

The Mercedes-Bens Vision EQS is as real as you want. Or like.

It’s a real car and it drives under fully electric power, but it’s still just a concept car for motor shows.

That meant I had less than a kilometre of driving time and the mechanical package under the one-off bodywork was more like a golf kart than a supercar.

Does it matter? Not really.

“This is it. This is the car,” says Christian Binder, engineer on the Vision EQS project the car’s minder in Melbourne.

He knows the car’s story but, for now, is more focussed on protecting his baby. So there are tight restrictions on the driving experience and he is keen to ensure there is no damage to the costly concept car.

He was at Sindelfingen in Germany throughout the car’s creation and is happy to discuss the objectives.

“There are some keywords in the project, like the design and having sustainable luxury. It’s more than just saying it, it’s doing it,” he says.

“It’s the sourcing of the materials right through to recycling.”

Binder says it took 12 months to create the car, even without things like the drivetrain, door seals or on-board infotainment.

But he says was a love job for everyone involved.

“When I was a small child I looked in the car magazines and I could not imagine that some years later I would be working on cars like this. And to go with it, all round the world, is crazy.

“Of course, it’s fun. It’s a dream.”

But he admits there were some major challenges in translating a designer’s dream into a reality.

“The headlights were really tough, with all the LEDs and the switching, and the 3D grille was also a tough thing to do.”

But he loves the result.

“When you are there from day one, to see it finished is amazing. Especially when it is getting dark and the car is on the street, it is crazy.

“When you see it in the real world it’s cool. And it’s also cool when Lewis is driving it.”

There are several cautions before I can slide into the Mercedes-Benz Vision EQS.

The driver’s door is flimsy, the cabin surfaces are prone to scratching and I need to fasten a make-believe seatbelt.

Binder lifts a lid on the central console to power the car, then shows me how to select gears in the automatic transmission.

It sits silently, waiting, as I go through the pre-drive briefing and then settle into the driver’s seat.

It’s nicely shaped but very firm, and the steering is familiar but very different with a cut-off top that looks futuristic but – as I will soon discover – is not very practical.

The view is brilliant in every direction and the car is flooded by light from the multiple sunroofs.

There are skinny stalks for rear-vision mirrors but no display, as the car is missing any sort of instrument display or infotainment screen.

But it’s easy to dream, to fill in the blanks with my imagination.

Then it’s driving time and, silently like every electric car, the EQC comes to life. It moves away with a faint zzzzz as I move along the apron.

I cannot lie and talk about acceleration or cornering, because I’m being super-gentle. And my total driving time amounts to less than a single kilometre.

But this dream is real and I cannot help being swept along in the excitement of driving something that’s very special.

As I roll to a stop and wait for the electric door to be opened, there are more questions than answers.

Driving the Mercedes-Benz Vision EQS is special and unique.

It’s real proof that Mercedes is doing more than just dreaming and talking.

The actual driving experience is nothing special, but sliding into the 21st century cabin is a dream come true.

But Binder is even further into the future, heading back to the design studio to help create the next Vision concept car.

“It’s back to Germany now. Something top-secret. The next car, yes, but definitely top-secret and nothing to talk about,” he smiles.