Yes, it's yet another tire-squealing battery-electric from Mercedes-Benz's performance arm

It’s about the size of an E-Class, kinda looks a little like a CLS, and, in its lesser formats — like the EQE 350 — it’s a fairly sensible zero-emissions alternative to internal combustion. In AMG form, it’s a rootin’ tootin’ 677-hp 738 lb-ft tire-shredding homage to glorious excess.

It scoots to 100 kilometres an hour in just 3.3 seconds and, with an electric motor on both axles, it’s also ready for Canadian winters. It’s the 2023 Mercedes-AMG EQE, and it’s basically Mercedes’ take on Tesla’s Plaid.

In more practical terms, it has four doors, 90.6 kilowatt-hours of battery, and is rated for anywhere between 444 and 518 kilometres of range. Of course, that’s according to the truly optimistic European WLTP rating system, and we can pretty much assure you that it won’t average 23.2 kWh/100 km here in the Great White Frozen North when the mercury says minus 20.

That said, Mercedes claims that the EQE uses AMG-specific windings and laminations, as well as higher currents in its motors, which, I guess, is the electric equivalent to big-bump cams and individual throttle bodies. AMG says the rear motor is especially powerful since it is a six-phase design, essentially two sets of windings with three phases each.

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Making this performance reliable over a number of full-throttle applications — are you listening, Tesla? — is the sophisticated cooling system, including something called a “water lance” in the shaft of the rotor. Other AMG-specific elements in the cooling circuit include special ribs on the stator; and the use of ceramics in the inverter. There’s also a transmission-oil heat-exchanger. Like I said, I guess this is what passes for “tuning” in this new era of inverters and battery pouches.

It is worth noting that, since the electric motors are completely computer-controlled, switching between driving modes makes a big difference in the battery-powered EQE. For instance, in “Slippery” mode, power is limited to just 308 hp. Comfort gets 493 ponies; while Sport puts out 555 hp, and Sport+ 617 hp. If you want the full 677-horsepower shebang, however, you’ll have to option up to the AMG Dynamic Plus package with its Race Start mode.

On the battery front, Mercedes is trying to do its part to be more “sustainable” in its manufacturing. For instance, the cell chemistry reduces cobalt content to just 10 per cent. In fact, Mercedes says it has optimized the battery material content with a ration of nickel, cobalt, and manganese of 8:1:1. AMG says the chemistry allows both high-energy density and fast-charging. That said, the battery operates on a 328-volt architecture, which doesn’t offer all the charging potential of the 900V systems in Porsche’s Taycan the Hyundai Ioniq5. In fact, it seems that the EQE’s charging system tops out at 170 kW even at DC fast-charging stations.

All those 738 pound-feet of torque, meanwhile, are modulated by a fully-variable 4MATIC+ fully all-wheel-drive system. In contrast to previous system, the “+” system continuously distributes drive torque between the front and rear axles. Compared to a mechanical all-wheel-drive system, the electric-specific system ensures a significantly faster response, the power checked no less than 160 times per second and adjusted as necessary. Torque distribution also depends on the drive mode selected: “Comfort” mode focuses on efficiency by driving power forward, while in “Sport” and “Sport+,” the torque offered sees a more rear-biased split, for sportier RWD-like handling.

The suspension owes much of its design to the AMG EQS and the GT Four-Door Coupe, with adaptive adjustable damping controlling a four-link axle up front; and a multi-link system in the rear. The adaptive adjustable dampers, meanwhile, use separate pressure-limiting valves with rebound and compression phases controlled independently of each other, making it possible to increase comfort on one hand, but also deliver sporting firmness when the situation and driving mode calls for it.

Rear-axle steering is also standard, with the rear wheels able to turn up to 3.6 degrees. At speeds below 60 km/h, the rear wheels steer in the opposite direction to the front wheels, shortening the turning radius and rendering the steering light-footed and nimble. Above 60 km/h, the rear wheels steer in the same direction as the front wheels, virtually “extending” the wheelbase for increased stability.

EQEs will be available in our market in the fourth quarter of 2022. Mercedes hasn’t released pricing yet, but it will no doubt take a very full piggy bank to get behind the wheel of this electric rocket ship.

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