Electric Mercedes-Benz S-Class and EQ S on the way

Prototypes of the all-new Mercedes-Benz S-Class are running around Stuttgart with something fans have never heard before: silence outside the limousine as well as inside it.

That’s because Mercedes is developing the all-new S-Class and the ground-breaking EQ S at the same time, and roughly the same size, though they will be completely different underneath and they’ll even look different.

Benz will drop its two-for-one architecture strategy for the S-Class nameplate and instead deliver an all-hybrid petrol and diesel powertrain into its longest production sedan and a full battery-electric powertrain. Sort of.

The S-Class will split into two designs, like it has done with the E-Class and the CLS, though with the pointed difference that the S-Class and the all-electric EQ S will share very little beneath their skins.

Another big difference is that while the new S-Class is due next year, the EQ S isn’t slated to arrive until 2022.

While Mercedes revised the GLC’s architecture to create the internally compromised EQ C BEV, the EQ S will become the first model off Benz’s stand-alone Modular Electric Architecture (MEA).

While both the S-Class and the EQ S will stretch to about 5.3 metres, the S-Class will sit on the E-Class’s MRA modular architecture for internal combustion powertrains.

The MEA, meanwhile, will allow Benz to package the battery and twin-electric motor layout with fewer compromises than the EQ C has, with more of a skateboard layout.

It’s a move that, at a stroke, promises to ward off pure EV challengers like Tesla while getting out in front of promised EV flagships from Audi (which will use a stand-alone EV architecture) and BMW (which uses a hybrid internal combustion-EV platform).

The EQ S has been designed around a minimum EV range of 500km (on the WLTP test), but the plug-in hybrids that dominate the range of the next S-Class will aim for a class-leading 100km of pure EV running.

Benz has spent a multi-billion dollar fortune developing the 10 pure EVs it plans to launch before 2025, yet that hasn’t all gone on a new European battery plant or electric motor technology.

There’s also a new all-wheel drive system for the hybrids and the EQ S, allowing for fully variable torque delivery to either axle, at any time.

In less electrifying news, the standard-length S-Class will be killed off in favour of turning the traditional long-wheelbase version into the standard S-Class, with an overall length of almost 5.3 metres.

The stock powertrain for the next S-Class will centre on the latest in-line six-cylinder petrol and diesel engines from Benz engineers, along with the 4.0-litre V8 from AMG.

Both the 2.9-litre petrol and 3.0-litre diesel sixes will use disc-shaped electric motors housed inside their nine-speed automatic transmissions to boost performance, improve economy and regenerate electricity under braking and coasting.

The EQ S, meanwhile, will run as a permanent all-wheel drive, with about 300kW and 700Nm of instant torque underfoot, though there will be a 450kW AMG version at a later date.

Oddly, the very different S-Class and EQ S chassis platforms use the same air suspension systems, which include a road-scanning stereo camera and 48-volt power to adjust minutely for every bump and irregularity in the road. Under development, this feature was internally dubbed “Magic Ride”.