2027 Mercedes-Benz EQS First Look: It Finally Gets the Hardware It Always Needed

Mercedes-Benz’s first volley in the electric car wars, the ovoid EQS-Class sedan, didn’t exactly inspire rapturous praise from the MotorTrend team. While its driving range was solid enough, the car’s 400-volt electrical architecture hindered its charging speeds. We also didn’t love the soap-bar suppository styling that allowed it to slip cleanly through the air with a 0.20 drag coefficient, and a minor face-lift in late 2024 didn’t help matters much. Mercedes is addressing those downsides through a serious “running-gear lift” of the 2027 EQS, featuring the addition of an 800-volt system, new battery chemistry, new motors, and more.

MEA With MB.EA Inside

Technically, the V297 EQS still rides on its original MEA electric vehicle architecture, but for 2027 it utilizes some of the best tech developed for the company’s all new MB.EA platform making its debut in the electric 2027 GLC SUV and the coming electric-powered version of the C-Class sedan. That starts with newer, more efficient electric drive units, the rear one of which now gets a two-speed transaxle. This affords a big 11:1 torque multiplication at launch, switching to more economical 5:1 gearing at nearly any speed up to 70-ish mph. The second ratio provides an additional peak-efficiency “island” operating zone on a plot of speed versus torque demand, and it helps the motor sustain its peak power rating all the way to its 130-mph top speed.

Denser Battery Pack

New silicon-oxide/graphite anodes in a chemistry using less cobalt improves energy density enough to squeeze 122 kWh of energy into a package that could formerly only accommodate 118 kWh. One of the benefits exclusive to the EQS setup is that its battery can be subdivided into two 400-volt packs when charging at legacy Tesla chargers (the GLC and C-Class need a DC-DC converter to achieve 400 V). Hence, peak charging speeds will now be up to 350 kW at the best charging towers and 175 kW when hooked up to 400-volt equipment, according to Mercedes. Even better, braking energy can now be recuperated a third faster, at up to 385 kW.

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Optional Yoke Steer-by-Wire

Mercedes will be the first German automaker to offer steering that doesn’t rely on a failsafe shaft, following the Tesla Cybertruck and Chinese Nio ET9 down this path. It steers through a maximum of 170 degrees, negating the need for hands to ever leave the 9 and 3 o’clock positions and cross over to grab a steering wheel rim—so there isn’t one. The system features multiple levels of safety redundancy and has been tested for squillions of hours/miles/kilometers. But fear not, those who insist on a gangsta lean driving position with one hand at high noon can still opt for electromechanical steering with a round wheel. Read our limited driving impressions of the steer-by-wire system here..

Further Face-Lifting

Although a minor styling update largely preserves the soap-bar look of the 2027 EQS, power domes have been added to the hood, and an AMG-Line grille with multiple little illuminated stars flanks a light-up central star below an optional illuminated star hood ornament. New Digital Light smart headlamps (with star-shaped daytime running-lamp elements) can project an extremely wide high-beam pattern with local dimming to prevent blinding oncoming traffic. They greatly improve visibility while consuming 50 percent less energy than previous designs—and this feature is coming to the USA!

In back, the helix pattern from the outboard lighting elements extends into the center light bar, and a new AMG-Line rear fascia includes a cross-car chrome element above a new diffuser with more pronounced ribs.

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Inside: AI Avatars and Heated Belts

Another MB.EA feature coming to the EQS is the automaker’s enhanced MB.OS operating system, which empowers a new MBUX Virtual Assistant that can tap Google Gemini, ChatGPT, or any of several other AI agents best suited to handle the task or question. The virtual assistant is personified by the owner’s choice of a talking star, a humanoid head, or a “Baby Benz” round head with a grille/Hyperscreen shape for a face.

AI is also employed to further enhance the navigation system’s route planning. According to Mercedes, the planner can now break down any proposed journey into small segments and analyze the data it gathers for each segment—including specific grade and predicted wind, weather, and traffic conditions—to help make a more accurate prediction of overall energy use. The system can even reserve charging towers at Mercedes-owned stations.

Then there are the novel heated front seatbelts that aim to reduce the time it takes to get comfortable in a cold cabin, with Mercedes touting them as a safety feature if it encourages those in the front seats to remove bulky jackets before setting off. (Heated belts aren’t offered for the rear seats, though inflatable airbag belts are.) Speaking of rear-seat luxuries, the old optional 11.6-inch screens give way to new 13.1-inchers like those found in the 2027 Mercedes-Benz S-Class, each of which now incorporates an HD camera to support videoconferencing.

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Digital Extras

Borrowing another page from the MB.EA platform are over-the-air-upgradable features, including MB.DRIVE parking assist, which can now quickly identify parking spaces—even when not delineated by painted lines—and assist in both parking and pulling out. Reverse Maneuvering remembers the last 500 feet of driving and, using cameras, can retrace those steps in reverse. And the Airmatic suspension’s new intelligent damper control now uses Car-to-X technology, tapping into speed-bump location data recorded by other Mercedes cars to improve ride quality.

Might These Changes Boost the Ranking of the EQS?

Available models continue to include the 450+, 500 4Matic, and 580 4Matic. The current EQS-Class range sits in fourth place in our MotorTrend Ultimate Vehicle Ranking of Electric Luxury Sedans, behind the Lucid Air, BMW i7, and soon-to-be-discontinued Tesla Model S. Judged against the cars ranked ahead of it, the electrical system improvements made to the EQS simply bring it up to parity—table stakes, if you will. But steer-by-wire is a major wild card in this segment that could prove to be a game changer. If so, we’ll let you know—bookmark that Ultimate Car Rankings page.