The Mercedes EQS is a car that starts at $US102,310 ($139,960) here in the U.S., and one that touts a 769 km WLPT range, which is what they use in Europe. In the U.S., though, range is EPA-tested, and it usually results in a lower number. For the EQS, that has come out at 563 km.
That’s according to Green Car Reports, which says that a 563 km range is for the single-motor version, called the EQS 450; the dual-motor version, the EQS 580, gets 547 km of range.
It’s fair to say that many people thought that the EPA range for the EQS would be closer to 400 miles, and also closer to that of, say, the Tesla Model S Plaid, which Tesla says gets 637 km. Still, 563 km is respectable, at least for normal people; it is also better than the 560 km the Model S Plaid gets with 21-inch tires.
Then there is the Lucid Air, which gets a staggering 837 km of EPA-estimated range and starts at $US77,400 ($105,883). And there’s the Porsche Taycan, which starts at $US82,700 ($113,134) and gets 362 km for the base model, and also the Audi E-Tron GT, which starts at $US100,945 ($138,093) and gets 383 km of range.
There’s enough of these in this segment now, then, that buyers will have some choices to make; I’m guessing that most of them will opt for whatever luxury brand they already prefer. Lucid will probably be the most interesting, in any case, as they have no track record and also have the car with the most range and by miles. For years, we’ve talked about range anxiety and electric car buyers’ sensitivity to it, and also whether that is even a thing at all. Well, now we more or less have the cars to find out. Choose your fighter.