Mercedes EQS SUV and AMG EQE ace the family trip test
During a recent family trip to Southern California, Mercedes lent us two of their flagship electric vehicles. We picked up an EQS SUV at the airport, drove it around Los Angeles and to Big Bear Mountain and back, stress testing that huge battery against elevation and high speeds. Then, to switch it up, I drove the slightly less family-friendly but more fun EQE to destinations around LA for the second half of the week. Yes, $130K cars are so much more decadent than the Hertz vehicles we’d planned for, but here are my big takeaways.
Picking up the EQS SUV from LAX, it is a relatively unassuming car (especially compared to the Red AMG EQE we’ll discuss later) that most people won’t recognize as a six-figure flagship EV. The gorgeous front plastic grille tips the hand a little bit, but otherwise, this is a very unassuming vehicle on the outside other than the Mercedes logos.
Just like the EQS Sedan I reviewed last year, the inside was gorgeous and luxurious, though it lacked the passenger dash third screen. It also lacked the Galaxy tab in the back but had most of the other accouterments, including those light massaging front seats, which would be key after a day of snowboarding. I’ll stick by my previous statements on the interior, though the SUV naturally even has more headroom:
If the inside of the EQS is anything, it is roomy. The sheer enormity of the interior is hard to put into words. Add to that the ginormous “Hyperscreen” which his really
3screens under the same glass that spans the width of the front of the vehicle…a control screen between the 2 front seats allows those in the rear to individually control their temperature settings.What’s ironic is you don’t even have to look at the three big screens while driving because Mercedes includes one of the best heads up displays in the business. In fact, this is the first car that I preferred the built in mapping software to CarPlay/Google Maps and that’s because of the heads up integration – also it does look amazing on that huge center display.
The kids (11, 14) loved the ability to wireless charge in the armrest and adjust the back seat temperature, something they don’t get in the Chevy Bolt and Tesla Model Y they are used to at home. There’s also a ton more room in the back which almost kept them from fighting.
Probably the biggest difference is the boot, which now goes from a big EQS sedan to an even bigger SUV. That was key when it came to carrying our snowboards and equipment up the mountain.
Although we were four people on this trip, there was a third row, which I found roomy and housed our youngest during a particularly contentious part of the trip.
I climbed in the third row, and at 6 feet, 220 pounds, I felt like claustrophobia would take about 30 minutes to kick in. Even with the third row, there is plenty of room in the back for a row of groceries and even a false floor to store charging apparatus or other items.
No frunk, no hood access
The ample rear space is key here because not only does Mercedes not have a frunk, but they also don’t even allow access to the front hood area. I was curious to see where one would add the wiper fluid – it turns out there is a door on the driver’s side that you can use to do that.
It’s a bold strategy, Cotton. Let’s see if it pays off for them.
The Mercedes EQS SUV drive
Any wonderment about why someone would pay $130K for an SUV is immediately answered once you hit the road. The air suspension makes my sub-$50,000 vehicles at home feel like panel trucks. The cabin is whisper quiet even at 80mph, the turning is relatively tight, and the sub-6 second 0-60 acceleration is strong. Mercedes adds an acceleration soundtrack option which I felt compelled to try and found “not distracting.”
Mercedes, as is often the case, has a ton of varieties of the EQS SUV, and I had a middle-ish trim called 450 4MATIC. In this trim, the EPA mileage is 285 miles from the 108.4kWh battery. It was only tested on our 2.5-hour, 120-mile trip up the mountain to Big Bear. Around town, I’d seen mileage pretty closely pinned to the EPA range, but going 80mph up to 8000 feet? Let’s just say we stopped at a ChargePoint 50kW station (that put out <33kW) at dinner before our trip back.
It turns out that after regenerating most of the way down the mountain, we probably would have made the 240-mile round trip without the need for a charge, but I found myself playing it a lot safer without a garage charger waiting for me at home.
Easy street parking charging
This isn’t Mercedes-specific, but I found that it was really easy to keep these cars topped up with all of the options around town. Our Santa Monica Airbnb had street parking without access to power, but ChargePoint seemed to be everywhere, including about 20 level 2 stations at the beach where my kids surfed and a neighborhood station we topped up at over dinner a few times. Redondo Beach’s library, a few blocks from the beach/pier, also had some level 2 options that were easy and helpful. There was never any range anxiety, and I don’t even know if we lost any time because charging stations were so close to our venues and easy. I realize that Los Angeles is anything but a charging infrastructure desert, but this was the first time I’d gone 10 days without a garage charger, and it was too easy.
Switch to the AMG EQE
About midway through the week, Mercedes swapped out our EQS SUV with the AMG EQE sedan. (Yes, rough life, I know.) My wife and I had opposite reactions to the swap. Hers was, “This is worse in every way. It is smaller, [has] fewer seats, less room, has less range, it’s red, and has sports suspension.” As I’ve grown older, I’ve learned to just nod my head and sigh and save my adulation for the written word here.
At nearly the same price as the EQS SUV, the AMG variant of the EQE is gorgeous, and the “Patagonia Red metallic” color? A show stopper. We had zero people asking about the EQS SUV, whereas the AMG EQE had people visiting us at almost every stop to look and ask questions. Standout design additions are the small spoiler in the back, the pinstripe grille, fake air intakes in the front, and dope 21-inch AMG multispoke turbine wheels. I think a chrome-less version would be off the charts.
While smaller, there is still plenty of room for a family of four, and the trunk, it turns out, was surprisingly adequate at holding our three suitcases, bags, skateboards, and other souvenirs.
Inside, it is just as wild with a racing-inspired steering wheel with paddles with different racing options. When you turn the car on, it sounds like you are about to watch a THX movie and the permanent RGB light colors go from door to door.
This is a family vacation, so I didn’t get to test the 3.2 second 0-60 time, but my kids did get used to the “heads back” command before every green light. The fake motor sound here is louder and more noticeable… and fitting. Otherwise, even with the sports wheels and suspension, it is quiet and drives fantastically.
Those big shoes and 617 horsepower/701 lb-ft torque carry a huge range penalty dropping the range on the AMG EQE’s 90.6 kWH battery down from 305 miles of range in the standard edition down close to 225 miles (EPA not yet available) in the AMG variant according to the dashboard. I realize that might be a deal-breaker for some, but to Mercedes’ credit, their range is conservative.
Electrek’s Take
I wasn’t able to put these EVs through the performance paces and get into the intricate details like I would do on a normal review, but having the family along for the week presented its own nuanced tests. I’d argue that these were more telling for most than the normal speeds and feeds. And unsurprisingly, these two Mercedes vehicles passed with flying colors.
The big caveat is the price. Third-row eSUVs can be found at half the price (heck, Mercedes own EQB starts at $55K), and the slightly slower Tesla’s Model 3P and BMW’s i4 M50 are priced much lower and offer significantly more range than the AMG EQE.
That said, if you’ve got six figures to burn and want the best drives and overall vehicles possible, both of these electric vehicles worked incredibly well with my family of four. I now just have to talk my wife out of trading our Model Y for the EQS SUV.
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Renewables increased their output by almost 10% and provided nearly a quarter of US electrical generation in 2024, according to newly released US Energy Information Administration (EIA) data.
Solar was still No 1
Solar remained the US’s fastest-growing source of electricity in 2024. Utility-scale and “estimated” small-scale (e.g., rooftop) solar combined increased by 26.9% in 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, according to the SUN DAY Campaign, which reviewed EIA’s “Electric Power Monthly” report data.
Utility-scale solar thermal and photovoltaic expanded by 32%, while small-scale solar increased by 15.3%. Together, solar was nearly 7% (6.91%) of total US electrical generation for the year.
In December alone, electrical generation by utility-scale solar expanded by 42% compared to December 2023.
Small-scale solar (systems <1 MW) accounted for 27.9% of all solar generation and provided 1.9% of the US electricity supply in 2024. In fact, small-scale solar PV generates over five times more electricity than utility-scale geothermal.
2024 renewables milestones
The electrical output of US wind farms in 2024 grew by 7.7% year-over-year. Wind remains the largest source of electrical generation among renewable energy sources, accounting for 10.3% of the US total.
Wind and solar combined provided more than 17.2% of US electrical generation during 2024. The mix of all renewables – wind, solar, hydropower, biomass, geothermal – provided 24.2% of total US electricity production in 2024 compared to 23.2% of electrical output a year earlier.
Between January and December, electrical generation by renewables grew by 9.6% compared to the same period the year before – nearly three times the growth rate of natural gas (3.3%) and over 10 times that of nuclear power (0.9%).
In December alone, electrical generation by renewables grew by 10.1% compared to December 2023.
Wind and solar together produced 15.9% more electricity than coal and came close to matching nuclear power’s share of total generation (17.2% vs. 17.8%).
The mix of renewables reinforced their position as the second largest source of electrical generation, behind only natural gas.
“Renewable energy sources now provide a quarter of the nation’s electricity,” said the SUN DAY Campaign’s executive director, Ken Bossong. “Consequently, the rash efforts of the Trump Administration to undermine wind, solar, and other renewables will have serious negative consequences for the nation’s electricity supply and the economy.”
Read more: Renewables provided 90% of new US capacity in 2024 – FERC
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Tesla has applied for a permit to operate a ride-hailing service in California, but it will be using human drivers rather than the promised robotaxi.
Last year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk claimed that Tesla would launch “unsupervised self-driving in Texas and California in Q2 2025.”
However, we suspected that this would not be “unsupervised self-driving’ in customer vehicles like Tesla has been promising since 2016, but an internal fleet with teleoperation support in a geo-fenced area for ride-hailing services, much like Waymo has been doing for years.
Sure enough, Musk confirmed last month that this was the plan for Austin in June. We describe this as a “moving of the goal post” for Tesla.
With the focus on Austin in June, Tesla stopped talking about California, which was announced to happen at the same time as Texas last year.
Now, Bloomberg reports that Tesla has applied for a ride-hailing permit in California:
The electric vehicle manufacturer applied late last year for what’s known as a transportation charter-party carrier permit from the California Public Utilities Commission, according to documents viewed by Bloomberg. That classification means Tesla would own and control the fleet of vehicles.
But this application is for a regular ride-hailing service, like Uber, albeit for an internal fleet rather than vehicles operated by customers.
Tesla has yet to apply for a permit to operate driverless vehicles:
In its communications with California officials, Tesla discussed driver’s license information and drug-testing coordination, suggesting the company intends to use human drivers, at least initially. Tesla is applying for the same type of permit used by Waymo, Alphabet Inc.’s robotaxi business. While Tesla has approval to test autonomous vehicles with a safety driver in California, it doesn’t have, nor has applied for, a driverless testing or deployment permit from the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles, according to a spokesperson.
Musk claimed that he believes Tesla will be able to achieve “unsupervised self-driving” in California by “the end of the year”, but he has claimed that every year for the past decade.
The latest available data shows that Tesla’s Full Self-Driving system is achieving about 500 miles between critical disengagement. Tesla has stated that it believes it needs to reach 700,000 miles between critical disengagement to be safer than humans.
Electrek’s Take
This is just a step for Tesla to test ride-hailing services ahead of autonomy. A nothing burger, really, since ride-hailing has obviously been solved already by several companies, Lyft, Uber, Didi, etc.
What needs to be solved is autonomous driving.
As I have been saying for the last year, I am sure Tesla will be able to launch an internal fleet with teleoperation support in a geo-fenced area for a ride-hailing service in California later this year like it plans to do in Austin in June, but that’s nowhere near what Tesla promised since 2016.
It’s a moving of the goal post, and it’s basically just proving that Tesla is able to do something similar to Waymo – 5 years later.
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Tesla drivers in China are using the new Full Self-Driving update and are racking up fines as the system drives in bike lanes and makes illegal turns.
As we reported earlier this week, Tesla has started to release advanced driver-assist features sold under its Full Self-Driving (FSD) package in China.
The feature is called “Autopilot automatic assisted driving on urban roads” as Tesla seems more cautious about using the term “Full Self-Driving” in China, but it is a feature known for being in the FSD package everywhere else.
Tesla has been facing a lot of issues in releasing FSD features in China. The automaker has been limited in its neural net training due to restrictions about data coming in and out of the country, and it found it difficult to adapt to regulations regarding bus lanes and other China-specific road rules.
CEO Elon Musk warned that FSD in China would be a problem during Tesla’s earnings call last month due to the different rules. He mentioned bus lanes as an example:
By the way, were about the biggest challenges in making FSD work in China is the bus lanes are very complicated. And there’s like literally like hours of the day that you’re allowed to be there and not be there. And then if you accidentally go in that bus lane at the wrong time, you get an automatic ticket instantly. So, it’s kind of a big deal, bus lanes in China.
The automated ticketing system is not just for bus lanes and Tesla owners are learning about it the hard way.
Tesla owners have been testing out the features in live streams on social media and some of them are reporting getting numerous tickets for using FSD.
For example, this Tesla driver received 7 tickets in the space of a single drive because the FSD drove in bike lanes and made illegal maneuvers:
Car News China tracked several live streams and customer feedback on Chinese social media, and the consensus appears to be that it’s “pretty good, but with lots of bugs”.
The drivers are particularly impressed with how “natural” FSD drives, but they also noted that it still
Where the system lacks is the understanding of local traffic rules (such as no use of shoulder/bike lanes on turns, similar to the bus lane rules that Elon talked about in the most recent earnings call) and the sporadic use of wrong lanes (e.g. going straight in a left or right turn only lane) or navigation showing the vehicle in one lane when in fact it’s in another or wrong perception of objects (red balloons as traffic lights). Many of the live streams counted the number of traffic violations from the vehicle and the number of points that would have been taken off or licenses suspended (12 points = suspension) as a result.
Chinese media websites are now getting flooded with Tesla vehicles running red traffic lights, failing to recognize green lights, and driving on restricted lanes, like the video above.
The report also highlights how Tesla is facing strong competition in ADAS in China, with competitors like Nio, Xpeng, BYD, and others launching competitive products, which is not necessarily the case in other markets for Tesla.
Electrek’s Take
I feel like this is likely going to result in bad PR for Tesla in China. You can’t have drivers losing their licenses because FSD doesn’t recognize bike lanes.
Now, of course, Tesla will say that the driver remains responsible, but I don’t know how good Tesla’s messaging is on that front in China.
It’s going to be an interesting story to track in the coming months.
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