We Go For a Spin In The Concept Mercedes Vision EQS

Mercedes’ electric future looks bright.

It’s not often a manufacturer allows members of the media to drive a one-of-a-kind concept car, so when the folks at Mercedes offered us the opportunity to do just that we couldn’t resist. Introduced at IAA in Frankfurt this past September, the Mercedes Vision EQS is the concept version of what will be Mercedes fully electric S-Class equivalent, coming from their EQ line. 

We knew from the onset this wouldn’t be a proper test drive. That’s because concept vehicles aren’t built to the specifications of production vehicles. They aren’t up for regular driving and quite often they aren’t even allowed to be touched. I remember being invited to the Concept BMW i3’s North American premiere in 2012. It was a very small gathering of only about 50 guests and at one point I tried to open the door and I was nearly tackled by a BMW representative.

Gallery: Mercedes EQS Test Drive

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The Vision EQS Concept’s all-white interior with blue LED accents looks like it belongs in a Tron movie. It’s not meant to reflect what the production vehicle will look like, but instead to showcase hints of where the designers are looking to go. The two-thirds steering wheel wasn’t very user-friendly, and while it looks cool, you wouldn’t want to drive a real car with that kind of steering wheel – trust me. 

The real takeaway for me with regards to the interior was the feeling of openness you get inside. When I spoke with Stefan Lamm, VP of design at Mercedes Advanced Design Studio, about this he had a big smile on his face and replied “Excellent, then I’ve done my job”. He went on to explain how the dedicated EV platform allowed the designers to push both the A and C pillars out further towards the ends of the vehicle than they can do with a conventionally-fuelled vehicle. 

In doing so, the vehicle has a more roomy passenger compartment, more so than a regular S-Class Mercedes. The production EQS won’t have the exact same dimensions, but Lamm seemed confident we’d be very pleased when we get the opportunity to sit in the production EQS also.

You can see the retractable door handles of the pre-production Mercedes EQS