All eyes are on Mercedes and its flagship EQS electric vehicle, so it’s understandable why the EQE hasn’t been getting that much attention in recent months. It will come as a surprise to some that the smaller of the two electric sedans is not that far behind, with the world premiere scheduled to take place in the latter half of 2021.
Meanwhile, there’s still a lot of testing that needs to be done before the EQE is ready to hit the assembly line. A prototype was caught on camera this week wearing full camouflage attire while silently cruising the streets of Germany. The new posh electric sedan is not ready yet to reveal its secrets, but the work-in-progress vehicle does give us an idea of what to expect from the final product.
For starters, it’s not going to be a traditional sedan as it will adopt a sloping roofline inspired by those of the company’s swoopy sedans, namely the CLA and the larger CLS. The prototype seems to have a proper trunk lid as opposed to the EQS, which was caught on camera recently featuring a more practical hatchback configuration.
Speaking of the EQS, its smaller sibling adopts similar pop-out door handles and the side mirrors mounted lower on the doors for better airflow. This prototype might look a bit ungainly because it lacks the final headlights and taillights as these are only provisional clusters used in the testing phase. Nevertheless, the location of the production-ready lights is not going to change.
The test vehicle appeared to have an unusually high ride height with plenty of space within the wheel wells. Codenamed V295, The EQE might’ve had air suspension and the engineers were testing out some specific settings of the Airmatic system tailored to the new electric vehicle. Also in that area, we can’t help but notice the generous size of the brakes, which isn’t all that surprising considering we’re dealing with a large and heavy EV.
For whatever reason, Mercedes decided to slap a pair of fake exhaust tips at the back, peeking through the mesh on both lower corners of the bumpers. The camo with vertical slats applied onto the trunk lid is also rather strange, and we’re getting the impression the rear camera is neatly integrated behind the three-pointed star badge.
The interior remains a mystery at this point, although it would make sense for the EQE to inherit the fancy Hyperscreen (pictured above) from its larger brother. In other words, expect a screen-heavy dashboard with a fully digital instrument cluster, a wide touchscreen, and a third display mounted on the passenger side of the dashboard. On the EQS, the Hyperscreen will be an optional feature with a combined 56 inches of screen real estate.
Riding on the Electric Vehicle Architecture (EVA) developed from the ground up for zero-emissions cars, the EQE will be produced at the Bremen (Germany) and Beijing (China) factories. In 2022, the EQE SUV will be added to Mercedes’ growing EQ lineup and is going to be assembled in Tuscaloosa (US).
Source: walkoARTvideos / YouTube
