Mercedes-AMG EQS 53 2022 Review

The performance car landscape is changing rapidly as the world’s top auto-makers move quickly to meet ever-tightening emissions regulations and, importantly, fast-changing consumer attitudes.

The future for brands such as Mercedes-AMG is much, much more than a downsized combustion engine and clever turbo and hybrid technology, and thus here we have the first full-electric car from the hallowed marque: the 2022 Mercedes-AMG EQS 53 4MATIC+.

The large, luxurious new sedan is powered by a pair of electric motors that belt out 484kW and 950Nm – and as impressive as those figures are, you can also specify the AMG Dynamic Plus pack for $7690 that boosts output to 560kW and 1020Nm in certain conditions. (Such as at the lights, next to a Falcon XR6 Turbo revving menacingly…)

Based on what is in principle an electric version of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class – there’s also an EQS 450 coming late this year – Mercedes-AMG has recalibrated all the crucial dynamic elements to make it feel sportier: suspension, brakes, e-motors, battery, body work, seats, you name it.

AMG has even given the big whale its own song. But more on that later.

The EQS 53 AMG is priced at $328,400 plus on-road costs, or around $350,000 to get it onto the road, and currently stands in a league of its own in the limousine class.

There are some outstanding, but slightly smaller battery-electric performance sedans available (or coming soon), such as the Porsche Taycan Turbo S (from $352,600 plus ORCs), but its closest rival will be the 2023 BMW i7 that will spawn an M70 version with 441kW-plus and 1000Nm.

The equipment list for the EQS 53 is headlined by one of the world’s largest in-cabin screens, claimed to measure 1.4 metres wide.

Technically speaking the ‘Hyperscreen’ concept is three OLED screens meshed together behind a single piece of glass, but it’s a great example of technology masquerading as art – and it takes your breath away every you every time you hop into the car.

There’s also interactive ambient LED lights inside the cabin that pulse and strobe in relation to how your feet work the brakes and throttle, Nappa leather AMG sports seats with heating, cooling and massaging functions, heat- and noise-insulating glass including a panoramic glass sunroof and a superb 15-speaker Burmester sound system.

Owners also get a fingerprint security scanner, TV tuner, an ultra-large head-up display, augmented reality sat-nav via the central screen, a wireless phone charger, and loads more besides.

On the outside, the electric AMG is fitted with 21-inch aero alloy wheels, adaptive multibeam LED headlights and an AMG body kit with an aggressive fascia, rear bumper and boot lid spoiler.

A three-year Chargefox rapid-charge subscription is complimentary, but the asking price will begin to rise sharply once you start ticking the options box, or looking to the three packages available.

For the full run-down, see our Mercedes-AMG EQS 53 price and specification story.

The extravagant German scorcher is covered by a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty and the battery has above-average coverage of 10 years/250,000km.

Given the Mercedes-Benz EQS 450 donor car is already bristling with technology, this flagship 2022 Mercedes-AMG EQS 53 essentially maxes out the tech specs.

If you’re a sucker for gadgets, you’ll love this car…

Take the headlights – the adaptive high beam assist plus with ultra-range and active light functionality that has “anticipatory control and topographical compensation”. In other words, the headlights can proactively illuminate up and down hills and around other cars to provide impressive vision at night.

And what about that Hyperscreen? The tri-zone digital screen set-up delivers a dizzying array of menus, options and features and Mercedes reckons frequently used elements on the main central screen remove “menu diving”.

In reality, the car has a hugely complex infotainment system with an incredible amount of depth and customisability. In other words, nerds will love it, technophobes will hate it and everyone else will be somewhere in between…

The big Merc has a great array of semi-autonomous driving aids, including active steering, active lane keeping, adaptive cruise control with active distance control and stop-and-go functionality, plus traffic sign recognition.

Long story short, these systems are highly sophisticated and perform extremely well, ensuring the car can effectively drive itself for short periods at high speeds and longer periods at lower speeds.

The ultra-long luxury sedan comes with an automatic parking assistant, countless parking cameras and a 360-degree overhead view, along with pop-out door handles, advanced satellite navigation and eight airbags.

One of the coolest high-tech features is the augmented reality navigation directions via the head-up display. A $2690 option, it’s surreal at first, the graphics projected onto the windscreen moving around in your line of sight and seemingly interacting with the real world.

But it’s easily one of the best systems we’ve used.

There’s no ANCAP safety rating yet, but the EQS was given a maximum five-star Euro NCAP rating in 2021, which is likely to carry over locally.

The twin electric motors located on the front and rear axles of the 2022 Mercedes-AMG EQS 53 4MATIC+ are assembled by robots, not humans, unlike AMG’s top-tier ‘63’ asphalt warriors.

And who knows how long the ‘human touch’ will last?

But these permanently excited motors are, well, permanently exciting. They’re hugely powerful, belting out 484kW of power and 950Nm of torque, conspiring to deliver scintillating acceleration that pins you into the velvety AMG front armchairs with astonishing force.

The six-phase motors even have water lance features, essentially water cooling directly through the drive shaft of the rotor to improve cooling and ensure performance degradation is minimal.

But for all the power and tech, there’s little emotion.

The EQS 53 blasts forward with the intensity of a neutron star but lacks acoustic flair or mechanical connection. Yes, the car has three sound settings – authentic, performance and completely switched off – but none of them complement the vehicle’s extraordinary acceleration and that’s a shame because driver engagement suffers as a result.

AMG’s objective is to create a unique high-performance EV acoustic, but with so much nostalgia surrounding the combustion engine’s distinctive aural qualities, it’s going to be a tough sell. And Mercedes has no plans to imitate the sound of a traditional twin-turbo V8.

The 484kW German berserker can accelerate from 0-100km/h in a claimed 3.8 seconds. That’s not particularly fast for a top-echelon performance EV, but it’s certainly not slow, particularly when you factor in the EQS 53 limousine’s hefty 2655kg kerb weight. Top speed is 220km/h, which isn’t bad for a vehicle with a single-speed reduction gear.

The dual motors feature AMG-specific tweaks that bang out more power than standard EQS models, thanks to extra copper winding, together with an upgraded inverter and cooling system to allow for higher rpm and hence more mumbo.

The ultra-dense (and heavy) 107.8kWh battery pack also has unique AMG battery management software that in Sport and Sport+ modes will drain energy rapidly – especially if you add the AMG Dynamic Plus pack. This brings power and torque to a face-melting 560kW and 1020Nm (when using launch control) via upgrades to the powertrain’s cooling system.

A higher top speed of 250km/h is unlocked with Dynamic Plus, along with a sharper 0-100km/h time of 3.4 seconds. The AMG tells you it’s ready to launch by sharply tightening the seat belts, which is pretty cool, but it’s still not as rapid as the Porsche Taycan Turbo S (2.5sec) or the Tesla Model S Plaid (2.1sec).

Mercedes-Benz claims the battery pack enables a 587km driving range (based on official ADR testing), but our initial figures suggest we’d be lucky to get 450km with energy consumption averaging 29kWh/100km, versus the claimed 21kWh/100km.

That said, we drove it like an AMG should be driven, with plenty of aggression.

Recharging the big battery from 10 to 80 per cent takes a claimed 31 minutes using DC rapid charging up to 200kW.

Topping up from 10 to 100 per cent takes 10 hours with an 11kW wallbox charger, or you can option a 22kW charging upgrade ($2490) that reduces that time to five hours.

The AMG philosophy has always been to take Mercedes-Benz donor models, then upgrade and modify them to be more powerful, sharper performance cars that are more satisfying to drive.

We’ve only driven the ‘regular’ Mercedes-Benz EQS 450 on its international launch in Switzerland, so it’s impossible to make the distinction in an Australian context.

But first impressions of the 2022 Mercedes-AMG EQS 53 are, to say the least, positive.

Despite the spleen-popping acceleration on tap and ludicrous grip levels via the clever 4MATIC+ all-wheel drive system, it’s an exceedingly civilised and very approachable motor car, and in normal (read: boring/tedious) driving conditions the AMG EQS 53 is a real charmer.

It delivers ultra-smooth acceleration in Comfort mode, and the AMG-specific chassis, including adaptive dampers and adjustable air suspension, ensures supple ride comfort. This is significant, given most of the vehicles we drove were fitted with big 22-inch alloy wheels shod with low-profile tyres.

Flipping the AMG-specific digital dial on the steering wheel to Sport+ changes things up considerably, with extra body control allowing for reasonable mid-corner pace.

It’s not as razor-sharp in a dynamic sense as we’ve come to expect from $300,000-plus AMGs, but given the luxo-barge’s hefty 2.7-tonne kerb weight and 5.2-metre length it feels more spritely than it has any right to.

The rear-wheel steering works wonders rotating the car, tipping into corners with zeal, but you’ll need extra care ratcheting up the tempo or tackling tight corners because nothing can defy physics. Not even an AMG.

We’re also not a fan of the stalk-based gear shifter – at least give us some cool buttons or a lever before heading into hyperspace. And while we’re having a whinge, the exterior design doesn’t really scream AMG either; it needs a deeper rear diffuser or a more aggressive fascia.

The brakes are excellent, the colossal 415mm front brake discs clamped by big six-piston callipers and 378mm discs with single-piston callipers at the back delivering heart-pounding deceleration. You can upgrade to ceramic brakes if you want, taking the rotors to 440mm, for $9990.

How many of these curvy leviathans will see racetrack time? That will be a moot point for some buyers, whose objective will be to max out the options list.

We found the one-pedal driving mode via high-level brake regen is actually pretty effective, the car decelerating strongly as you lift off the throttle, and the cabin is ultra-quiet for the most part.

It’s a fantastic cruiser but the lack of a hand-built AMG V8 rumble is missed, the weird whirring sound in its place a synthesised mish-mash of who-knows-what?

There’s a TV ad for the AMG EQS 53 featuring F1 champion Lewis Hamilton, with the tag line ‘Electric found its voice’. We wish we could agree, but at the moment that voice is rather timid.

If you’re looking for traditional AMG drama, lots of brouhaha and tail-happy handling dynamics, look elsewhere. The 2022 Mercedes-AMG EQS 53 is a velvet sledgehammer that’s likely to appeal more to traditional S-Class buyers than diehard AM-Gisti.

After clocking up several hundred kilometres in the lush leather saddle of the Mercedes-AMG EQS 53, it’s fair to say the EV revolution is exciting and edifying in equal measure.

If you’re ready to plug in at the top end of town, this aerodynamic goliath will tick a lot of boxes.

The first AMG EV represents a step change for the brand, but it won’t strike the right note with everyone.

Perhaps rusted-on fans of the Affalterbach-built ballistic missiles need to adjust their expectations? After all, the future has just arrived.

How much does the 2022 Mercedes-AMG EQS 53 4MATIC+ cost?
Price: $328,400 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Powertrain: Two permanently excited synchronous motors
Output: 484kW/950Nm (560kW/1020Nm with AMG Dynamic Plus pack)
Transmission: Single-speed reduction gear
Battery: 107.8kWh lithium-ion
Range: 587km (ADR)
Energy consumption: 21.1-24.3kWh/100km (WLTP)
Safety rating: Five-star (Euro NCAP 2021)