Tested: Does the 2026 Mercedes EQS400 SUV Glide Past the Competition?

Pros:

-Comfortable, quiet road manners
-Impressive road-trip range
-Dynamite-looking interior

Cons:

-Minor tech quirks
-Long-ish brake pedal travel
-Feels big and heavy, is big and heavy

We’re blissfully rolling along on an L.A. freeway in the 2026 Mercedes-Benz EQS400, our heads nestled against the cushioned, pillow-covered headrest. Suddenly, a warning flashes on the instrument panel: “Caution: Pothole Ahead.” Uh oh. How far ahead is ahead? What to do? Swerve? Slow down hard?

In the end, we stay on course and brace for impact at ramming speed. One never comes. Or maybe it did? It’s hard to tell in the EQS400, with its air suspension and Comfort mode helping to shrug off bumps and bruises in the road.

Such is life in a fully electrified and loaded up Mercedes-Benz like the EQS400 4Matic SUV we recently tested. The EQS is arguably the top luxury electric SUV going at its price point, a comfortable, quiet, and tech-rich vehicle that does EV things well, too. But it comes with a few minor downsides.

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Doing the Electric Glide

Let’s get this out of the way first: The EQS400 isn’t a super-sport ute. If you’re looking for that in an EV SUV from Mercedes, you’re barking up the wrong automaker. Yes, this particular EQS has 21-inch AMG-style rims and an optional AMG Line exterior package ($3,000). But the present EQS SUV lineup as a whole, which also consists of the EQS500 and Maybach EQS for the 2026 model year, isn’t about AMG-level ride and handling. While they’re all proper quick in a straight line, these SUVs are much more about getting you from point A to B in coddled comfort.

As you’d expect, the base model 400 is the slowest of the EQS SUV trio, though it’s far from poky. We recorded a 5.2-second 0–60-mph run and a quarter mile in 13.9 seconds at a shade under 100 mph in the EQS400, and it did it all in an exceptionally smooth fashion. Not bad for a 6,327-pound vehicle with 355 horsepower and 590 lb-ft of torque generated through its front and rear motors.

But when compared against two of its closest competitors in the space that we also recently tested, the vastly more powerful 2026 Cadillac Vistiq Platinum (615 hp and 6,407 pounds/3.8 seconds 60 mph, 12.3 seconds at 112.8 mph in the quarter mile) and Lucid Gravity Touring (560 hp and 5,479 pounds/3.8 seconds to 60 mph, 11.9 seconds at 120.8 mph in the quarter mile), the EQS400 can’t match their pace.

Slowing down the three-plus tons of German-engineered fun from 60 mph was accomplished in 114 feet, and here it gets the better of both the Vistiq (119 feet) and the Gravity Touring (120 feet). Although the pedal feel is somewhat long and soft in its travel and can take some getting used to (something we experienced on the open road, as well), given its heft, that’s a more than acceptable number.

When it comes to dynamic performance through our figure-eight and skidpad tests, we’ve criticized past EQS models as being big (its 126.4-inch wheelbase is far longer than the Gravity or Vistiq) and somewhat ponderous despite its four-wheel steering, and nothing that the EQS400 did during its test runs was materially different, numbers wise, from an EQS450 we tested back in 2023. But the 400 is demonstrably quicker in a straight line than that EQS450, which is arguably what matters most to folks buying a vehicle like this.

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Getting Its Charge On

Where the EQS400 shines against the Gravity and especially the Vistiq is in the range and charging departments. Thanks in part to its 118.0-kilowatt-hour battery pack, the EQS400 is EPA rated at 312 miles of range, shorter than the Gravity Touring (337 miles) but better than the Vistiq Platinum’s 300 number.

In our MotorTrend Road-Trip Range test, where we run a vehicle down from 100 to 5 percent range at a steady 70 mph, it slaughters them both with a highly impressive 333-mile number. The Gravity managed 264 miles and the Vistiq a paltry 234 miles.

At a DC fast charger, it’s every bit the match of the Gravity with 137 miles added in 15 minutes and 252 miles in 30 minutes with a max charging rate of 209 kilowatts, and it simply pummels the Vistiq, which is one of the Achilles’ heels of the present-generation General Motors EVs. Mercedes has done yeoman's work in the areas where it matters most to EV owners, and the numbers bear it out. The 2026 EQS400 also comes with NACS adapter, making it usable at Tesla Supercharger stations.

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Inside Out

Step into any Mercedes vehicle equipped with the brand’s Hyperscreen setup, and there’s an initial sense of shock and awe at the panel that simply dominates the dashboard, from port to three-pointed starboard. Then there’s the geometric-patterned, metal Burmester stereo speaker covers, the wraparound ambient light strips, and the optional, $1,515 "Yacht Designed” walnut wood accents (best enjoyed with XM’s Yacht Rock channel) contrasting nicely with Black/Biscaya Blue Nappa leather trim ($1,370). It’s what you buy a Mercedes for, the combination of high tech and high style.

The cockpit has all the whistling bells you need for both driver and passenger—massaging seats, those comfy headrests, wireless CarPlay and Android Auto, phone charging, etc. The Hyperscreen takes some getting familiar with, but it’s not as dense from an ease-of-use standpoint as some. This model was a five-passenger setup with plenty of room for all, and to be honest, we wouldn’t recommend the optional third row unless you really need to regularly pin some youngsters back there. Total cargo room at 74.0 cubic feet is decent.

As for how it looks from the outside, there are those who have disparaged the EQS and EQE models (several of our staff among them) for their bulbous, swept-back style that in some ways is function over form. You could argue the EQS SUV is the best among the present pack, with a mostly traditional, dare we say handsome SUV type look from the profile and rear, with three-pointed starred front clip classing things up some.

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Rolling Down the Highway

Out on the open road, the 2026 EQS400 4Matic can feel big, long, and heavy at times, but it isn’t materially longer than Gravity overall, and it’s a couple of inches shorter than the Vistiq.

Get it on a highway, though, and it simply glides, especially when you’re able to set up its adaptive cruise and let it roll. It’s a joy to drive over long distances given its sound-deadened and isolated cabin, with copious amounts of front driver and passenger room and panoramic glass roof lending you a sense of space.

There’s a Sport mode, but honestly, you’re not likely to need or use it to any extent, as it doesn’t really amp things up all that much from a dynamic perspective. This is a vehicle that you’re going to want to make sure you plan your moves in and don’t try to overdrive it into, say, a tight hairpin of an on-ramp. Regardless of setting, however, you never feel like you’re wafting or loosely driving thanks to its light but fairly direct helm and brakes, which as outlined are a bit on the soft side pedal wise, but when you’re used to them, they will bite and slow things down firmly and without much dive.

If you’re a one-pedal driving aficionado, you’re not going to love how the EQS400 will work in that respect, but Mercedes does offer a couple of modes to give the driver some options for the car to slow down without using the brake pedal through the use of a paddle-based setup.

And although we’re impressed with the Mercedes safety suite, which is extensive and cutting-edge in many respects, it can sometimes be overly touchy, as it was when it suddenly panic braked in a scenario we didn’t expect or when it warns of things like potholes that really aren’t there. It’s part of the world we live in at present, where we’re not near full autonomy and 360-degree safety but we have enough of it on cars where it’s good to have despite occasional unexpected behavior.

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Built in the U.S.A.

Sometimes it’s easy to say a vehicle costs too much, more so when you’re talking about models pushing past $100,000. But Mercedes has been able to hold the line and, in some ways, offer more for less. Take the 2023 Mercedes-EQ EQS450+ we tested in December 2023. That model started at $105,550 and was $114,140 all in with options.

This 2026 EQS400 4Matic, which like almost all Mercedes-Benz SUVs is assembled at its factory complex in Alabama, listed for $91,200 to start and topped at $108,845. We’d venture to say it's quite a bit better, with vastly more torque helping make it quicker, with better tech, higher luxury standards, and more. It’s an anti-inflation, tariff-busting EV!

As for the 2026 Gravity Touring, it’s the bargain of the competitive set we’ve highlighted, with an $88,300 as-tested price, and the Vistiq Premium listed for $100,415 all in. At this price point, though, are you really bargain hunting? Or is it more about hunting for what you really want from today’s crop of the best all-electric luxury EVs? If it’s the latter, you’d be well served to take a long look at the Benz. Just watch out for the potholes.