The 2024 Mercedes-Maybach EQS SUV: Everything You Need to Know

In the automotive world, some brands and nameplates lend themselves to electric power more easily than others. Ferrari and Lamborghini are defined by high-revving, cylinder-dense engines; Lotus and the Mazda Miata are known for light weight and agility. But big luxury cars…well, they’re prime for electrification. After all, they’re all about quiet rides, smooth, effortless power and a refined driving experience already; weight and complexity are features, not bugs.

Rolls-Royce and Bentley have super-luxury electric cars of their own in the works, but it’s Mercedes-Benz ultra-luxury sub-brand Maybach (okay, Mercedes-Maybach, if you want to get technical) that’s beating them to the punch by launching an EV later this year. Only…it might not be exactly what you expected.

Meet the 2024 Mercedes-Maybach EQS SUV.

The first electric Maybach is (very much) an SUV

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Given that the Maybach brand’s stock-in-trade for most of its existence has been extra-long, extra-luxurious sedans, the idea that the brand’s first electric car would be a sport-utility vehicle might seem a bit unexpected. After all, Mercedes makes an excellent full-sized electric sedan, the EQS, that would seemingly make a perfect basis for a Maybach model.

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But the decision to go with the EQS SUV instead was one based in customer demand, according to Daniel Lescow, head of Mercedes-Maybach. “The boxy shape of an SUV offers more opportunities to integrate what is important to Maybach,” he told Gear Patrol at the model’s secretive preview event in Lisbon, Portugal. (It’s no coincidence that the brand’s sales have skyrocketed since the arrival of Maybach’s first SUV, the GLS 600.)

The Mercedes-Maybach EQS SUV is as sybaritic as you’d expect

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Inside, you’ll find the sort of extremely comfortable, leather-lined guts you’d expect from a brand whose basic operatic principle is, “Take a Mercedes, but make it even fancier.” The design is a blend of the regular Benz EQS SUV and the Maybach GLS, with the former’s influence prevalent up front (note the standard Hyperscreen display and giant opening where an internal-combustion car’s transmission tunnel would go) and the latter’s impact seen more in the second row and beyond.

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Mercedes-Maybach describes many of its customers as “dual use” users — people who have drivers to shuttle them to and from their businessings during the week, but who drive their six-figure luxury cars around on errands and family trips come the weekend. As such, the driver’s seat is meant to be an utterly delightful place — and it absolutely is, offering up comfort levels that are hard to beat in the automotive realm.

It’s a Maybach, so the back seat is where it’s at

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Of course, if you want to recline with a glass of champagne and watch Succession, you’ll need to be in the back. Opt for the four-seat configuration (you can also buy it with a conventional bench in back, but…really, why would you?) and you’ll have the space to stretch out in all three axes, pop out a leg rest, angle your back flat (ish) and even enjoy whatever you’ve got chilling in the optional trunk cooler. (Don’t worry — it pops out quite easily when you don’t need it.)

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And of course, Maybach logos are prolific across the new car. They’re on the pedals, the speaker grilles, the regular grille, even the puddle lamps. There’s even one projected onto the thick-pile carpet in the second row between the seats.

Power comes from a modified version of the AMG EQS setup

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The EQS SUV will launch in EQS 680 form, with the number merely signifying that, well, it’s more powerful than the Maybachs with lesser numbers. The dual motors (one for each axle) pack a combined total of 649 hp and 701 lb-ft of torque, enough to launch the bulky beast from 0 to 62 mph in a claimed 4.4 seconds. (Brand representatives begrudgingly admitted this setup is based on the powertrain of the AMG EQS sedan.)

Of course, mad dashes like that will make it harder to reach the maximum range figures. Mercedes-Maybach claims it will deliver “up to 600 km” of driving on a charge, but that’s under the open-minded WLTP measurement. Convert over to EPA standards and imperial units, and you can probably expect up to 300 miles of real-world range in mixed driving and more like 240-250 at a steady 75 mph cruise — although additions from the EQE SUV like a heat pump and a front axle motor that can disconnect at low loads should help improve efficiency in cold weather and at sustained speeds.

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When it comes time to recharge, the EQS 680 SUV can suck up electrons at up to 200 kW from a DC fast charger — enough to add around 100 miles of highway range in 15 minutes, by our best estimates. If you have more time to relax, the car can charge at up to 22 kW on a Level 2 charger — at least in markets other than the U.S.A., as max AC charging here is restricted to 9.6 kW. Still, even that is enough to refill the Maybach EQS in a little more than 12 hours.

The Mercedes-Maybach EQS 680 SUV goes on sale fall 2023

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Okay, there’s one aspect of the new Maybach EQS SUV we haven’t addressed: the design. Maybach’s debut event had us scope it out in a mighty event hall with harsh auto show lighting and giant Christmas ornaments of the brand’s logo all around, which makes it hard to get an accurate sense of the car’s proportions and appearance.

In person, however, it certainly has more presence than it does in person, with a strong personality and a face that looks far better when not reflecting harsh white light. (For some reason, the first phrase that came to mind upon seeing its face was “noble alien.”) It’s perhaps not conventionally handsome, but like the Bentayga and Cullinan, it product declares its lineage — and importance.

And let’s face it, that’s what buyers of this sort of SUV want. Odds seem strong that Mercedes will face little trouble moving plenty of these, at least by Maybach standards. The brand hasn’t discussed pricing, but based on their other models, figure on spending at least $175,000 for one — and probably a good bit more if you want all the fixin’s.

2023 Mercedes-Benz EQS 450 4Matic SUV Review: Premium Electric Practicality

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Mercedes’s big electric SUV is thoroughly capable and plenty comfortable, if a little less flashy than its sedan counterpart.

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