Mercedes AMG EQE SUV: Ugly but Comfortable!

really really good really good but I

wouldn't pick it still really good but

that's how I feel about this thing right

up behind me right here this is the

Mercedes I want to get the name right

AMG eqe SUV AMG performance eqe model

electric

SUV sports utility vehicle when you're

thinking competitors to this you're

thinking okay it's got to be a high-end

performance oriented electric SUV and

that kind of puts you at like model X

plaid around 100 Grand like this is that

puts you at BMW like the M60 maybe Mach

e uh GT but even though this is really

good I would still take all of those

over this despite all the good things it

has gone for it and I'll explain why by

the end but first let me give you a bit

of a tour of the AMG eqe SUV so first of

all I've never been shy about when I

think a vehicle is ugly this one is kind

of flirting on that line for me it's not

pretty but I don't I don't love the way

it looks and I think it has something to

do with the front end you obviously have

this enormous Mercedes logo right up

here and then that AMG badge is all over

this thing as well there's another

little AMG badge Hometown reing and uh

the bronze color another thing that I

wouldn't necessarily pick but I don't

know I understand why it has to look

like this it's pretty aerodynamic it's

pretty smooth it's pretty Sleek there's

a lot of fake vents happening obviously

you don't need a real Grill here

but this light bar up here up front I

think actually does look good obviously

there's a big vent down here Cooling and

there is real functional slotted air

going down the side to go over the

wheels to maybe cool your brakes a

little bit Michelin Pilot Sport EV tires

so they're going to be efficient but

also pretty sporty on these big wheels I

don't know I don't I don't hate it but I

don't love it either then again I'm

comparing it to the others in the

category that don't look that great

either but you know what let's just get

the price and the basics out of the way

right off the top so this thing starts

at

$110,000 so it's pricey and for that

price you get a 96 Kow hour battery you

get all-wheel drive you get a 0 to 60 of

about 3.2 seconds it's about 680

horsepower and plenty of torque but it's

also about 230 miles of range on a good

day that's the EPA rated max range for

this thing and 170 Kow

charging which isn't the fastest I mean

I'm used to seeing 250 300 350 and so

this will still do like 10 to 80% in

like 30 40 minutes but it's not the

fastest charging either that's its weak

point I think its strong point is the

interior and it is pretty explosive in a

straight line but just to walk you

around the outside real quick here are

some other things to note first of all

here's the uh the charge port nothing

crazy fancy or hidden but it is

motorized and there's your fast charging

which is great love to see that and in

the back this is where you get a little

bit more of that eqe look with the light

bar across you get the AMG this camera

flips out when you've got your rear view

camera open and a rear windshield wiper

and of course you've got your key which

is how I'll get into the back here just

by holding that so you can see the trunk

space it's decent okay this isn't this

isn't best in class but it isn't the

worst thing I've ever seen either but I

do want you to keep in mind this vehicle

does not have a front trunk okay so this

is basically all of your storage here

and yes it's respectable those seats do

move forward if you want them to nice

little cargo cover here but yeah nothing

nothing too insane now I'm going to

close it and lock it with this button

because I do want to show you these

handles here right so it's just locked

oh that's another thing I forgot to

mention this car makes all kinds of

noises when you lock it when you unlock

it when you drive it this is one of the

loudest EVS I've gotten to test but

anyway okay this little button right

here another nice little noise that

unlocks and opens those receding handles

and this is the back seat another little

AMG logo and this is me sitting behind

my 63 driving position pretty good

amount of room back here so of course I

always like to see good fundamentals

like I've got a lot of Headroom which is

nice and you've got this glass roof that

makes it possible that also retracts and

can open sweet there's also this screen

back here for HVAC controls and in case

you didn't know two more USB type-c back

there and the foot rest is under this

huge Riser here so your feet have this

little bit of extra room just to kick

forward anytime the seat in front of you

is on risers that's nice and the seats

are really comfortable so if I could

only spend time in the back seat of this

versus any of its competitors I'd

probably pick the AMG but that's not why

you get one of these you do get it

because you're going to be driving it so

let's get to the front seat the driver's

seat by the way there's another one of

those hilarious things where it says

formatic this badge this thing pops out

and that's your windshield wiper fluid

because the front doesn't even open at

all on this vehicle anyway let's get in

the driver's seat so I think i' I've had

this thought about every recent Mercedes

I've tested which is yeah they're good

at Interiors right so this is the

electric one so you get a nice little I

think you get a sound when you boot it

up is that am I going to get a

sound so that's fun that comes over the

speakers uh but you always you get like

incredibly soft headrests really

comfortable seats you get these phys big

physical tactile vents that are super

smooth to move around uh LED lighting

everywhere all over the cabin obviously

tons of seat controls big speakers this

big floating bar piece here which is

where you've got your window controls

and mirror controls it's just nice in

here oh and by the way this steering

wheel is sick really really nice for

this vehicle and I'll get to what these

dials do in a second but that's the

strength of this over its competitors is

an awesome driver seat experience and an

awesome interior and I want to show you

guys probably one of the most

interesting pieces which is this Center

piece here I'll focus on so this slides

open and stays there this is my mic so

don't worry about that but this big

piece of internal storage here two USB

ports right there wireless charger for

your phone and then a little spot to put

your keys for just having them sit there

but also two cup holders but you've

probably seen this style of cup holder

before can totally spin out of the way

and give you more space and

then it totally lifts out and gives you

even more storage which is it's cool I

just I don't I don't know where put this

like I guess it could go in the door or

something maybe uh Hey

Mercedes open the glove

box can again open the glove

box so that's a bit of a theme I'm just

gonna put that right

back where it goes but then also back

here you've got even more storage with

even more USBC ports so I guess what I'm

trying to say is yeah well done on the

interior Mercedes you haven't skipped a

beat here but then there's the other

parts of driving this car which is the

software and then the drive

itself let's let's start with the

software so this car has got this huge

series of three displays all in this one

giant pane of glass they call it the

hypers screen and the software is called

mbu I've thought a lot about this

recently it's actually how do I put this

it's very

functional it's just ugly actually it's

even laid out well and there's a lot of

features it's just ugly I think it looks

um like Windows 95 or like Windows Vista

or something like that so you have all

the normal stuff right here these are

the gauges they look great you can see

right now I have 206 miles of range with

85% battery um but then here in the

middle just this huge blue skoric look

down here uh the look of the maps all

the buttons just having this weird blue

gradient now there is haptic feedback on

the screen and the menus are pretty well

laid out and I have wireless Android

auto and wireless carplay is great you

can scroll through you can hear the

clicks and the the haptic feedback is

super good and you have all the controls

over the vehicles it's great it's just

it it doesn't look good and and maybe

that's a subjective thing maybe you

think this looks good but I don't know I

would love to see like a refresh of a

version of this software that looks a

little more clean a little more minimal

and more modern but I don't know if

they're going to do that I think this is

just the way Mercedes software looks and

this is just the way they want their

mbux to feel in their electric vehicles

but you've got these stocks with a whole

bunch of controls for back here and over

here but I also like that you got the

paddles again for Regen what's hilarious

to me is this up pedal turns regen down

and this down pedal turns regen up so if

I put my foot on the brake and hit it

you can see well I'm not in drive but

down turns recuperation from normal to

uh maximum which is one pedal driving so

it's it's kind of backwards labeled but

you still get used to it pretty quick

and then I like these down here so as

you're driving matter of fact let me put

it in drive so you can see uh this

little Notch right here will change your

suspension this is an air suspension

that can adjust from Comfort to sport to

Sport Plus and when you do that you'll

also see over here you're changing your

suspension from Comfort to sport to

Sport Plus Comfort is actually pretty

close to feeling like any other normal

soft Mercedes SUV it's not quite the

totally floating mybach experience but

it's pretty good sport and then Sport

Plus gets admirably stiff which is cool

and then this second one down here is

just your sound so sound goes from

Comfort to sport to powerful so balanced

sport

powerful and you can kind of hear that

in the background dial

up and that's literally just the sound

that the car makes as you're driving

around and accelerating like I said lot

of sound effects from this car and then

on the right hand side you can just dial

all of that up or down in one so Sport

Plus for suspension and acceleration you

can do sport for everything and then you

can do comfort for everything and it all

changes in one if you use this big dial

on the right here so I think that's

pretty sweet I found it easy to just pop

over and hit the dial this is something

a lot of cars do now where you just have

a single dial for your drive modes and

uh well that is satisfying because you

feel the difference now I will warn you

if you're expecting this to be like some

sort of extremely rigid hyper stiff uh

performance

sedan it's not quite that it is still

nearly 6,000 lbs it is explosive in a

straight line don't get me wrong super

fast you can feel the nearly 700

horsepower like kick you forward you can

almost do a kind of a launch control in

it too so lots of good AMG stuff there

but once you get to turning and steering

it's not that much better than a model X

plat I might get flamed for saying that

but it's true it's just not that much

better so despite its rear wheel

steering despite the incredibly

impressive Michelin tires I don't know

that I would get this just to be the

sportiest possible Drive listen that air

suspension um but I would get it just

because it's the best interior and the

most comfortable one but if I'm still

comparing in the back of my head this

$100,000 fully electric performance SUV

versus the version of that or the model

X plaid or the Mach EGT or whatever else

it is I think I'm still going in my mind

with the one with the most range the

best network and the most storage which

is the model X plaid and I think I maybe

take this or thex next the is not as

nice of an interior but it's it's got

everything else going for it so more

range it's up to you let me know what

you think

of the AMG and the color and the looks

and I'll talk to you guys in the next

one peace