Covering all the news from an auto show is not an easy task, especially one that's so huge as Frankfurt.
I do my damnedest to go see every new debut in the flesh at every auto
show I attend before packing my bags and heading off to wherever the
next plane takes me, but it's rare that I have time to go take a second
look and really ponder a given machine.
At this year's Frankfurt show, I made a special trip to go back to the Mercedes-Benz Vision EQS
and take a second look. It was a long look at that. But this prototype
machine is more than a sultry shape with striking proportions, the
Vision EQS has huge potential to reshape people's perception of
near-term electric luxury. So, when offered a chance to get a little
closer to the thing, to learn more about it and even to get behind the
wheel, let's just say I didn't need to think for long.
Getting closer
While many manufacturers are in the process of
tightening their belts, Mercedes-Benz is one of the few that can still
be counted on to roll out futuristic concept cars at every
opportunity. Over the past few years, many of those concepts have had a
two things in common: electric drivetrains and autonomous capability.
Looking at machines like the F015 Luxury in Motion or the Vision Urbanetic
it's easy to see that the company is preparing for a future where
luxury motoring means automated driving. While the world comes to grips
with the reality that true autonomy is still a long way down the road,
however, here comes the Vision EQS, painting a picture for a much
nearer-term future of luxurious driving.
The Vision EQS, you see,
is meant to be driven. The crop-topped steering wheel may be unusually
shaped, but it is present and isn't even designed to fold up and hide in
the dashboard or anything fanciful like that. This is a car that will
be engaging to drive, and so I was eager to drive it.
Yes, the car will offer Level 3 autonomy
(meaning it can mostly take care of itself in limited circumstances,
like on the highway) but that's secondary to the car's promised 470
horsepower and 560 pound-feet of torque. That power, delivered from two
motors to all four wheels, is a little more than what you get today in
an S450 sedan. However, an additional 200 lb-ft of torque, all available
from 0 rpm, should make for an engaging drive, while 435 miles is the
promised range.
Given the conceptual nature of this car, all those
numbers may well have come out of a hat, but they at least show the
intent. What's more significant is that the platform this car will be
built upon is something that Mercedes-Benz tells me will underlay a new
generation of electric cars . The structure of the car, a
combination of aluminum, steel and carbon fiber, is engineered such that
future models can rely on the same basic underpinnings, stretched or
shortened as necessary to target the appropriate segment.
In other
words, while the EQC SUV is the tip of the Mercedes-Benz's electric
spear, what lies beneath the Vision EQS will become its platform.
Interesting, too, that it is a sedan and not an SUV. With crossovers
and their ilk dominating the sales charts, many have said the era of
the sedan is over, yet that's clearly what the EQS is, and it comes from
a company synonymous with luxury sedans in the eyes of many. The EQS shows that Mercedes-Benz sees a future in that segment.
Other tricks
While the most significant part of the Vision
EQS lies underneath, the more visible bits are not lacking in
significance. The hallmark of the car is its holographic headlights,
which rely on platters spinning at 2,000 rpm and 500-strong LED
arrays to create 3D images that appear to hover in space. They, plus a
229-strong field of LED stars at the rear and a 360-degree ring of light
that connects it all together, provide a new, more comprehensive means
of signaling the car's intentions than a humble blinker.
On the
inside, those lights continue, with another band of ambient lighting
that again could be used for signaling, perhaps flashing red in the
direction of a wayward cyclist or pulsing green when a traffic light has
changed.
The rest of the interior is stark white at this point,
relying on overhead projectors to beam a next-generation flavor of the
company's MBUX infotainment system. But that's just for the concept. In
the future, Mercedes-Benz designers want to find a way to hide displays
beneath thin wooden veneers. Instead of having a dashboard that looks
like it's come down with a bad case of the touchscreens, the dashboard
would be calm and clean and controls would only light up and appear when
needed. That sounds lovely to me.
Also lovely is the palette of intended materials. Mercedes-Benz isn't
just committed to making the car emissions-free, it wants to source
cruelty-free vegan leather for the seats, carpets made of recycled soda
bottles and a headliner made of plastic waste pulled out of the ocean.
These are exactly the sort of aspirational touches that could turn a
future shopper into an owner.
And then of course there's the
look, the shape and profile that first captivated me about the EQS.
While you never know just how well these concepts will translate into a
production car, Mercedes-Benz did a reasonably good job of bringing the
Concept EQ to reality as the EQC without losing its swoopy charm.
For
the EQS, I was promised that we'll be seeing a production car that
looks much like what you see here in the not-too-distant future. How
soon? That, sadly, nobody would confirm, but I'd hazard a guess that
we're probably looking at a few years at the most.
The drive
I've been lucky to drive a number of prototypes,
some more functional than others, and I'm sorry to report that this
current vision of a future Vision EQS is limited in terms of what it can
actually do. Part of the problem was that the car was unexpectedly
barred from driving on real roads, which restricted my time behind the
wheel to a small, private parking area a long way from Tokyo. Another
problem was the weather. Constant, heavy rain featured in the week
leading up to my drive. Given the nature of the car's construction, a
downpour would mean Wicked Witch of the West-like scene of bubbling
devastation.
Thankfully, the weather finally cleared for the day
of my reacquaintance with hand-built EQS. Easing in behind the wheel --
gently so as not to break anything -- the first impression is of a
rather more sporty seating position than in the current Mercedes-Benz S-Class.
That's partly to define the personality of the car, but it's also
partly to solve a problem. The EQS, you see, has a 110-millimeter
problem to deal with: the height of the battery pack that lives in the
floor of the car. You can't really lower the floor without causing
ground clearance issues and Mercedes designers didn't want to raise the
car that much, so they got creative with seating position and a few
other tricks to maintain the sleek profile you see here. Dimensionally,
the car is close to a current S-Class sedan.
To accentuate the sportier seating, the designers lopped the top off
the steering wheel and created a sort of internal double-bubble profile
to the roof, which is glass with a central support structure running
fore-to-aft Visibility is excellent and the sweeping, waterfall shape of
the dashboard that sweeps around the interior is truly striking.
Starting
the car requires opening a compartment hidden in the center console,
exposing an unsightly portal to a bundle of wires and a very humble
looking set of PRNDL buttons. I'm told to keep my foot on the brake,
press P and then drive.
It's just that easy and we're away with
just a subtle whir and whine from the drivetrain, plus the sound of all
the pebbles and other bits the massive, 24-inch tires are picking up.
There's no sound insulation to speak of, so the driving experience is
raw to say the least. The steering has none of the quickness you'd
expect from a sporty driver's sedan, and that 460 hp is nowhere to be
found. But despite that, after a few moments I'm smiling. And, a few
laps later, I still am.
I'm also sweating because the vents on
the dashboard are fake and there's no HVAC system at all to counter the
sun blazing through that glass roof. But, still smiling.
Wrap-up
In a market dominated by numb SUVs and a
future seemingly dominated by autonomous living rooms on wheels, it's
more than a little refreshing to see a concept that not only looks
remarkably good but is intended to be good to drive as well. How close
will reality come to matching this template? Only time will tell on that
front, but I'm happy to say this is Vision I can truly get behind.
