Step inside and take in Mercedes-Benz’s most high-tech interior ever.
The company has revealed the cabin of the 2021 Mercedes-Benz EQS, its flagship, all-electric fastback.
It goes on sale in Europe in August and is expected to be in Australia by the end of 2021.
The interior is headlined by the available MBUX Hyperscreen, a curved-glass screen that extends the entire width of the dashboard.
Measuring over 141cm wide, it encompasses a digital instrument cluster, central touchscreen, and a touch display for the passenger.
Mercedes says the “area perceived by the occupants” measures 2432.11cm2, and the lower part of the screen has integrated ambient lighting to simulate a floating effect.
Hardware highlights include eight CPU cores and 24GB RAM and 46.4GB per second RAM bandwidth.
In the event of a crash, there are predetermined breaking points alongside the side outlet openings.
Models without the Hyperscreen instead have a dashboard design extremely similar to that of the redesigned S-Class, with a free-standing digital instrument cluster and a portrait-oriented central touchscreen that flows down into the centre console.
The company touts the EQS’ cabin as appealing to four different senses.
In terms of touch, the central and passenger displays both feature haptic feedback.
The seats are available with up to 10 different massage programs and can also be upholstered in Neotex, which is said to combine the look of nubuck leather and neoprene.
In terms of sound, there are two optional “soundscapes”, called Silver Waves and Vivid Flux, that can be turned on and off and are transmitted via the sound system speakers.
These are interactive and react to a dozen or so parameters including the car’s speed and the position of the accelerator panel.
Silver Waves has a “sensuous and clean sound” while Vivid Flux is aimed at electric vehicle enthusiasts. Sport mode intensifies the sound effects.
A third soundscape, Roaring Pulse, can be activated as an over-the-air update and is “reminiscent of powerful machines”.
Speaking of sounds, the Energising Comfort package’s Energising Nature programs allow you to listen to soothing rain, ocean and forest sounds.
The fourth sense the EQS appeals to is smell, with a fragrance called No.6 Mood Linen pumped into the cabin if you have the Air-Balance Package.
It’s named number six in an homage to the first electric Mercedes-Benz models, introduced in 1906, and has notes of fresh linen and figs.
You can’t (or rather, shouldn’t) taste the interior.
Given its electric powertrain, there’s no need for a conventional shifter so the EQS foregoes one and instead has an unadorned centre console.
Electric Art and AMG Line packages feature different seats, with the latter using sports seats with surfacing that gives “the impression of draped-on leather blankets”.
There are eight interior colourways, including space-grey macchiato, while interior inserts include open-pore line-structure lime wood and walnut ship’s deck wood.
Mercedes’ visually impressive use of ambient lighting has now extended to the piping of the seats and dashboard backlighting for models without the Hyperscreen.
As in the S-Class, there’s also a discreet mode that reduces the amount of displayed content as much as possible.
There are two different sizes of head-up display, the latter of which features augmented reality and overlays information and turn-by-turn instructions onto the environment outside.
There are other clever interior features.
If you say you’re tired or stressed, different Energising Comfort programs will run.
There’s a Power Nap mode that adjusts the driver’s seat, closes the windows and tweaks the climate control settings to make a nap more comfortable. It even plays soothing sounds and displays a starry sky on the central display. Good night!
To awake you from your slumber, pleasant sounds and fragrancing are piped into the cabin and the seat gently massages you as it raises to position.
Programs can also be joined by other seats’ occupants or shared between passengers.
If you’d rather jolt your passengers awake from their naps, you can pump up the volume on the 15-speaker, 710W Burmester surround sound system.
The in-car tech is more than just a large screen. Mercedes-Benz has also expanded the use of gesture control, with a simple waving motion all that’s necessary to open the sunroof.
Like the S-Class, the EQS will also offer dual rear-seat entertainment screens.
While the production exterior has yet to be revealed, it’s been previewed in various teasers.
The EQS has a cab-forward, fastback design significantly different from the similarly-sized, internal combustion engine-powered S-Class.
It also has a drag coefficient of just 0.20 in some variants.
The EQS will have 700km of electric range under stricter WLTP measures.
