Skip to main content

Mercedes-Benz sells more GLC SUVs than any other vehicle. While you may think that the popular small, competitive, luxurious GLC may be the most important SUV for the brand, we’re here to make the case that it’s not. The EQS is. The EQS SUV is Mercedes’ flagship all-electric SUV which comes with every bell and whistle the company can dream up, and that means that the most successful options will find their way into the GLC we can all buy in a few years.

The 2023 Mercedes EQS is the ultimate Benz SUV

A white EQS SUV on a curving road.
2023 EQS SUV | Mercedes

The EQS represents the pinnacle of Mercedes’s SUV line, and its new EQ line of electric vehicles. Mercedes is asking far north of $105,000 for most versions of this seven-passenger SUV for good reason. For example, it doesn’t just have a simple center screen, ohh no, instead it offer the MBUX Hyperscreeen, which is three displays merged into one gigantic 56-inch curved glass surface on the EQS 580 4MATIC. On those screens, it can show everything the SUV is doing, from steering angle and suspension height to your geo coordinates.

Of course you don’t pay that kind of money and not get leather heated seats, a power-sliding second row, and acres of soft-touch materials throughout. You also can get the latest version of the Mercedes-Benz User Experience, or MBUX, that is voice controlled and helps you remember business contacts, birthdays, and whether you like the heated steering wheel (or hot-stone massaging seats) on when temperatures dip below a certain temperature. Maybe our plebian GLC SUV will get a hot stone massaging seat when it’s updated.

The EQS is electric and expects to set a standard

The EQS comes as a 355-horsepower version called the EQS 450+ or the EQS 580 4MATIC, which has 536 horsepower. The 450+ is rear-wheel drive, with the 4MATIC badging means that the 580 is all-wheel drive. Depending on which version you pick, it can go 373 miles on a full charge. Mercedes added four-wheel steering, with the rear axle able to turn up to 10 degrees.

What trim levels are available on the Mercedes-Benz EQS?

The EQS comes in three flavors, Premium, Exclusive, and Pinnacle. The Premium has more luxury and features than most of us would know what to do with, including 10-degree rear-axle steering and a surround-view camera. Upgrade to the Exclusive and you get rapid heating front seats, the MBUX Interior Assistant, a four-zone climate control system, and a heads-up display.

The Pinnacle adds all of the features of the lower tiers. But, you also get an MBUX rear tablet, wireless charging in the rear, and the Executive Second-Row Seat Package, which includes neck and shoulder heating in the rear, as well as power-adjustable seats.

What should expect to pay for a new EQS SUV?

2023 EQS SUV interior
2023 EQS SUV | Mercedes

Mercedes teased us with pictures, specs, and more but finally we have the pricing. Brace yourself, the EQS comes with a steep price tag. The EQS 450+ Premium, the base model, starts at $104,400. If you upgrade to all-wheel drive, expect to pay $3,000 more. If you move to the EQS 580 4 MATIC, it starts at $125,950. The Exclusive trim is about $5,000 more, while the Pinnacle trim is about $6,000 more. The Premium tops out at more than $132,000.

Related

The Wrap Is Off: Mercedes-Benz Unveils New 2023 EQS SUV for the US Market

Best in Tips, Tricks & Trends
Writer - Sedans & Coupes

Dan Mayfield

Dan joined MotorBiscuit in 2022 with over 20 years of experience in journalism and a lifelong passion for anything related to the automotive industry. He grew up wrenching a 1949 Ford pickup truck and an MGB with his dad, learning how not to wire a fuel pump (he inadvertently set the MGB on fire).

After earning a bachelor’s degree in photojournalism from the University of New Mexico, Dan has contributed his expertise to a range of local outlets, including the City of Albuquerque, US Eagle, and the Alliance for Local Economic Prosperity.

On weekends, Dan spends Saturdays enjoying “cars and coffee” chats and, on Sundays, he’s watching the Route 66 Cruise roll through town. He also races motorcycles, and it’s not unusual to find him elbows-deep in his latest cafe racer build.

Taking advantage of the local desert terrain, Dan also enjoys exploring and driving off-road in his trusty Ram Rebel pickup truck, which provides personal insights into his contributions to our Trucks, SUVs, & Crossovers coverage. Dan strives to give our readers unique information about the dynamic automotive market, reading anything that has to do with cars, trucks, bikes, 4X4s, and, in his words, “everything with a motor.”

Dan has earned a number of accolades from the Public Relations Society of America, and is a University of Southern California, Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism Fellow.