Mercedes reveals its first electric Maybach, and it’s based on the EQS SUV

Mercedes-Maybach has revealed its first electric limo – the EQS 680 SUV – and it’s based on the Merc EQS SUV that was launched in 2022. 

It is predictably fancy inside and out, with the option of Maybach’s signature two-tone paint on the outside and a sumptuously overblown interior. In a sign of the car’s expected duties, the rear seats are as high-spec as the fronts – you get heating, ventilation and massage functions as standard all round. The heating extends as far as your neck and shoulders for maximum cosiness. 

The standard fit rear seats are in bench format, but you’ll want to spec Maybach’s ‘First-Class Rear’, which means you get two aeroplane-style seats (the posh ones, not back in Economy) and a sizeable centre console. In the console you get heated cupholders, a tablet to control the onboard rear entertainment and a swathe of USB-C plugs and HDMI inputs. Optional extras for the centre console include folding tables, a fridge and silver-plated champagne goblets. Because why not. Wherever you are in the car you’ll be able to enjoy the carefully curated ‘4D sound’ from Burmester, which involves 15 speakers liberally splashed around the car, including two exciters in each of the seats. 

All sorts of trickery have been employed to keep the sounds of the outside world to a minimum – laminated glass, of course, but also aero flicks around the body to manage airflow and reduce noise, specially developed supports for the front axle and extra rubber mountings for the e-motors to create that special sense of cocooning that luxury car buyers expect. Mercedes has even gone so far as to use extra foam to try and damp out the sound of stones hitting the insides of the wheelarches. Now that’s dedication.

It will have an expected WLTP rating of 2.5mpkWh, which Mercedes says will mean a range of up to 373 miles from the car’s presumably whopping battery - no word on how big it is yet, but those figures indicate it will be at least as big as the standard EQS SUV’s 120kWh option. Maximum charging speed is 200kW, and Mercedes says that you can charge the car from 10–80 per cent in a mere 31 minutes. A quarter of an hour on a suitably powerful rapid charger will get you/your driver an extra 137 miles of range. 

The Maybach EQS SUV offers predictably impressive performance from such a sizeable car (the standard EQS SUV weighs 2.8 tonnes, we’d be surprised if this car wasn’t knocking on for over 3.0 tonnes) – the 0–62mph time of 4.4secs should probably left unexplored, unless your chauffeur is going out of his way to make you spill your bubbles in the back. 

You expect a nice selection of driving modes in most posh cars these days – Eco, Comfort, Sport, that sort of thing - but this car has a special Maybach drive mode that is designed to ensure maximum comfort for the rear passengers, deploying the air suspension to its most devastatingly comfortable effect. We’re not entirely sure what an oscillation node is, but there’s one under the rear seats and Maybach says it makes the car even more comfortable. 

The 130mph top speed is more to do with conserving range, and is no reflection on the Maybach’s 649bhp from the twin e-motors front and rear, which enable four-wheel drive. There's an impressive 701lb ft of torque available too. You can hustle the car if you’re running late, but if you’re wealthy enough to afford one and a chauffeur, we can imagine that everyone else probably waits for you.