As Mercedes-Benz has steadily expanded its EQ range of electric cars, the lineup has become a bit like the late stages of a Tetris game. It’s mostly complete, but with a few gaps still left. And the 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV is the piece that perfectly fits one of them.
Mercedes recently launched two other electric SUVs at opposite ends of the price spectrum. The EQS SUV is positioned as the lineup’s flagship, while the EQB is the entry-level model. The EQE SUV slots between those two in size and, presumably, price. The latter hasn’t been confirmed yet, and likely won’t be until the EQE SUV’s planned March 2023 on-sale date.
Design
As the name says, the EQE SUV is a utility-vehicle version of the EQE sedan, which will likely beat it to showrooms by a few months. Mercedes did the same thing with the EQS, which is available in both SUV and sedan body styles.
With its tall, upright profile, the EQE SUV definitely looks like a proper SUV compared to the low-slung EQE sedan. Park it next to an EQS SUV, though, and you’ll have to get out a measuring tape to spot the differences.
The EQE SUV is 0.6 inch narrower and 1.2 inches lower than the EQS SUV, but the most significant difference is in length. The EQE SUV is 10.3 inches shorter than the EQS SUV, with a 2.1-inch shorter wheelbase. And while the EQS SUV has three-row seating, the EQE SUV has two rows. Based on our experience with the EQS SUV’s third row, that’s not a big loss.
The interior design theme carries over from other Mercedes EQ models, with an expansive sloping dashboard designed to accommodate many screens, and multicolor ambient lighting that should look pretty dramatic at night. However, leatherette upholstery is standard, rather than real leather, which Mercedes is now spinning as a vegan option.
The Mercedes-Benz name has long meant luxury in the automotive industry, but now the carmaker wants to bring that same cachet to your home and its energy needs. On May 18, the German automaker announced a strategic partnership with Vivint Solar that’s aimed at helping it “bring the Mercedes-Benz customizable home energy storage system to the U.S.”
Thanks to the new collaboration, customers may soon be able to enjoy the German engineering and performance of Mercedes-Benz batteries alongside Vivint Solar’s experience in designing, installing, and maintaining solar energy systems.
Already, more than 100,000 homes across the U.S. boast Vivint Solar energy systems. But the company hopes that this number will increase by way of its new agreement with Mercedes, which marks the first time that Vivint will integrate batteries into its product line.
“As Mercedes-Benz electrifies its vehicle fleet, solar plus storage is essential to enable those vehicles to be powered by clean energy,” said Boris von Bormann, CEO of Mercedes-Benz Energy Americas, LLC. “With batteries featuring the best in automotive engineering from Mercedes-Benz, and high-quality solar energy systems from Vivint Solar, our solution allows customers to take the next step toward a sustainable energy future. The launch of our home battery system in Europe has been successful, and we are thrilled to be working with Vivint Solar to bring a reliable and compelling solar plus storage offering to American homes.”
The hope is that the battery storage provided by Mercedes will give Vivint Solar customers the ability to more carefully control the renewable energy their solar panels generate. Not only will the batteries serve as a backup power source in the case of a blackout, but they could also help customers cut down their energy costs. After all, whatever leftover solar energy is created in the day can be stored in batteries and used at night when energy consumption is often highest.
The new energy storage systems will be comprised of modular 2.5kWh batteries, which can be used in concert to create a system as big as 20kWh. All systems will be customized to Vivint Solar customers’ needs.
“The choice to work with Mercedes-Benz Energy, a world-class innovator in energy storage, was an easy one,” said David Bywater, CEO of Vivint Solar. “We believe their energy storage system is going to delight our customers, and [we] are impressed with their ambitious plans for the future. We look forward to bringing this innovative solution to consumers, beginning in our California markets, and to empowering greater renewable energy usage.”