Mercedes-Maybach shares US pricing for new EQS 680 SUV
Six months after unveiling the EQS 680 SUV – Mercedes-Maybach’s first all-electric model – the ultra-lux sub-brand has shared US pricing… and it’s not cheap. That said, this is the top-tier version of the all-electric SUV from a brand that is already known for its utmost quality and performance.
Mercedes-Maybach operates as a sub-brand of Mercedes-Benz, whose name is globally associated with the luxury and unique design features only the most well-off customers can enjoy.
We’ve seen Maybach gain notoriety under the Mercedes-Benz umbrella over the past decade, finding a Rolodex of suitors interested in unique and high-end versions of the Mercedes S-Class and other combustion models. However, Maybach has been flirting with the idea of luxury electric vehicles since 2016, when it shared the Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6 – a 2+2 electric coupé concept with 200 miles of range. Maybach followed up in 2018 with an electric SUV concept called the Vision Mercedes-Maybach Ultimate Luxury.
That said, the first official Mercedes-Maybach BEV would not arrive until this past April, when it was unveiled to Electrek and other media in Lisbon. While the original EQS 680 SUV was clad with chrome and Maybach logos EVERYWHERE, the automaker followed up with a sleeker, darker “Night Series” this past May.
Today, Mercedes-Maybach shared US pricing of the EQS 680 SUV, which also includes the murdered out black version… only for an extra $25,000.
Mercedes-Maybach EQS 680 SUV pricing starts at $180k
You read that correctly. No one said top-tier quality and performance come cheap, but Maybach’s first crack at an EV does have a lot of exciting technology to offer. Described by its makers as “an automotive masterpiece,” the Maybach EQS 680 SUV is equipped with dual motors that deliver an output of 84 kW, 649 hp, and 700 lb-ft of torque. Here are some additional specs we first learned during the April unveiling:
| EQS 680 SUV | |
| Drive configuration | 4MATIC AWD |
| Powertrain | Dual motor |
| Output | 484 kW (649 hp) |
| Torque | 700 ft-lb |
| Acceleration (0-60 mph) | 4.1 seconds |
| Top speed | 130 mph |
| Range (provisional WLTP) | up to 600 km (373 miles) |
| Onboard charger | 9.6 kW |
| AC Charge time (0-100%) | 12.75 hours |
| DC fast charging max | 200 kW |
| DC charging (10-80%) | 31 minutes |
| Range after 15 mins DCFC | up to 220 km (137 mi) (WLTP) |
| Length / width (w/o mirrors) / height | 201.7″ / 80.1″ / 67.9″ |
| Wheelbase | 126.4″ |
| Turning radius (rear-axle steering 10°) | 36.1″ |
| Cargo capacity | 15.3 cubic-feet |
| Combined power consumption (provisional values) |
24.4-22.5 kWh/100 km |
The SUV comes standard with AIRMATIC Air Suspension, an adaptive damping system, and rear-axle steering with a steering angle of up to 10 degrees. Its cabin features Mercedes’ unique MBUX Hyperscreen across the dash, as well as scenting capabilities throughout the interior in the Air Balance package, complete with its own unique fragrance called “No. 12 MOOD Ebony.”
The rear seats come with Nappa leather upholstery exclusive to Maybach, adding comfort to the front and rear Executive seats that include ventilation, massagers, and neck and shoulder heating capabilities. Customers can also opt for the Executive Rear Seat Package Plus, which adds calf massages while you recline and sip champagne from the interior’s removable mini fridge.
Of course it has a fridge; it’s $180,000!
Future Maybach EQS SUV customers in the US can choose between the five-seat option or the four-seat Executive Rear Seat Package Plus with no change in pricing. Speaking of pricing, here’s how it breaks down:
As you can see from the specs above, we previously only had the provisional WLTP range, but according to the Mercedes-Benz USA website, the range appears to be closer to 280 miles, assuming that’s EPA official. Starting today, US customers can order their new Maybach EQS 680 SUV based on the pricing above. The EVs will be built at Mercedes-Benz plants in Alabama in a “net carbon neutral manner.” What do we think?
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The Rio Tinto Group logo atop Central Park tower, which houses the company’s offices, in Perth, Australia, on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The mining sector appears poised for a frantic year of dealmaking, following market speculation over a potential tie-up between industry giants Rio Tinto and Glencore.
It comes after Bloomberg News reported Thursday that British-Australian multinational Rio Tinto and Switzerland-based Glencore were in early-stage merger talks, although it was not clear whether the discussions were still live.
Separately, Reuters reported Friday that Glencore approached Rio Tinto late last year about the possibility of combining their businesses, citing a source familiar with the matter. The talks, which were said to be brief, were thought to be no longer active, the news agency reported.
Rio Tinto and Glencore both declined to comment when contacted by CNBC.
A prospective merger between Rio Tinto, the world’s second-largest miner, and Glencore, one of world’s largest coal companies, would rank as the mining industry’s largest-ever deal.
Combined, the two firms would have a market value of approximately $150 billion, leapfrogging longstanding industry leader BHP, which is worth about $127 billion.
Analysts were broadly skeptical about the merits of a Rio Tinto-Glencore merger, pointing to limited synergies, Rio Tinto’s complex dual structure and strategic divergences over coal and corporate culture as factors that pose a challenge for concluding a deal.
“I think everyone’s a bit surprised,” Maxime Kogge, equity analyst at Oddo BHF, told CNBC via telephone.
“Honestly, they have limited overlapping assets. It’s only copper where there is really some synergies and opportunity to add assets to make a bigger group,” Kogge said.
Global mining giants have been mulling the benefits of mega-mergers to shore up their position in the energy transition, particularly with demand for metals such as copper expected to skyrocket over the coming years.
A highly conductive metal, copper is projected to face shortages due to its use in powering electric vehicles, wind turbines, solar panels and energy storage systems, among other applications.
Oddo BHF’s Kogge said it is currently “really tricky” for large mining firms to bring new projects online, citing Rio Tinto’s long-delayed and controversial Resolution copper mine in the U.S. as one example.
“It’s a very promising copper project, it could be one of the largest in the world, but it is fraught with issues and somehow acquiring another company is a way to really accelerate the expansion into copper,” Kogge said.
“For me, a deal is not so attractive,” he added. “It goes against what all these groups have previously tried to do.”
Last year, BHP made a $49 billion bid for smaller rival Anglo American, a proposal which ultimately failed due to issues with the deal’s structure.
Some analysts, including those at JPMorgan, expect another unsolicited offer for Anglo American to materialize in 2025.
M&A parlor games
Analysts led by Dominic O’Kane at JPMorgan said the bank’s “high conviction view” that 2025 would be defined by mergers and acquisitions (M&A), particularly among U.K.-listed miners and global copper companies, was coming to fruition just two weeks into the year.
The Wall Street bank said its own analysis of the mining sector found that the current economic and risk management environment meant M&A was likely preferred to the building of organic projects.
Analysts at JPMorgan predicted the latest speculation would soon thrust Anglo American back into the spotlight, “specifically the merits and probability of another combination proposal from BHP.”
Prior to pursuing Anglo American, BHP completed an acquisition of OZ Minerals in 2023, bolstering its copper and nickel portfolio.
The company logo adorns the side of the BHP gobal headquarters in Melbourne on February 21, 2023. – The Australian multinational, a leading producer of metallurgical coal, iron ore, nickel, copper and potash, said net profit slumped 32 percent year-on-year to 6.46 billion US dollars in the six months to December 31. (Photo by William WEST / AFP) (Photo by WILLIAM WEST/AFP via Getty Images)
William West | Afp | Getty Images
Analysts led by Ben Davis at RBC Capital Markets said it remains unclear whether talks between Rio Tinto and Glencore could result in a simple merger or require the breakup of certain parts of each company instead.
Regardless, they said the M&A parlor games that arose following merger talks between BHP and Anglo American will undoubtedly “start up again in earnest.”
“Despite Glencore once approaching Rio Tinto’s key shareholder Chinalco in July 2014 for a potential merger, it still comes as a surprise,” analysts at RBC Capital Markets said in a research note published Thursday.
BHP’s move to acquire Anglo American may have catalyzed talks between Rio Tinto and Glencore, the analysts said, with the former potentially looking to gain more copper exposure and the latter seeking an exit strategy for its large shareholders.
“We would not expect a straight merger to happen as we believe Rio shareholders would see it as favouring Glencore, but [it’s] possible there is a deal structure out there that could keep both sets of shareholders and management happy,” they added.
Copper, coal and culture
Analysts led by Wen Li at CreditSights said speculation over a Rio Tinto-Glencore merger raises questions about strategic alignment and corporate culture.
“Strategically, Rio Tinto might be interested in Glencore’s copper assets, aligning with its focus on sustainable, future-facing metals. Additionally, Glencore’s marketing business could offer synergies and expand Rio Tinto’s reach,” analysts at CreditSights said in a research note published Friday.
“However, Rio Tinto’s lack of interest in coal assets, due to recent divestments, suggests any merger would need careful structuring to avoid unwanted asset overlaps,” they added.
A mining truck carries a full load of coal at Glencore Plc operated Tweefontein coal mine on October 16, 2024 in Tweefontein, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa.
Per-anders Pettersson | Getty Images News | Getty Images
From a cultural perspective, analysts at CreditSights said Rio Tinto was known for its conservative approach and focus on stability, whereas Glencore had garnered a reputation for “constantly pushing the envelope in its operations.”
“This cultural divide might pose challenges in integration and decision-making if a merger were to proceed,” analysts at CreditSights said.
“If this materializes, it could have broader implications for mega deals in the metals [and] mining space, potentially putting BHP/Anglo American back in play,” they added.
— CNBC’s Ganesh Rao contributed to this report.
GreenPower Motor Company says it’s received three orders for 11 of its BEAST electric Type D school buses for western state school districts in Arizona, California, and Oregon.
GreenPower hasn’t made the sort of headline-grabbing promises or big-money commitments that companies like Nikola and Lion Electric have, but while those companies are floundering GPM seems to be plugging away, taking orders where it can and actually delivering buses to schools. Late last year, the company scored 11 more orders for its flagship BEAST electric school bus.
As far as these latest orders go, the breakdown is:
- seven to Los Banos Unified School District in Los Banos, California
- two for the Hood River County School District in Hood River, Oregon
- two for the Casa Grande Elementary School District in Casa Grande, Arizona
Those two BEAST electric school buses for Arizona will join another 90-passenger BEAST that was delivered to Phoenix Elementary School District #1, which operates 15 schools in the center of Phoenix, late last year.
“As school districts continue to make the change from NOx emitting diesel school buses to a cleaner, healthier means of transporting students, school district transportation departments are pursuing the gold standard of the industry – the GreenPower all-electric, purpose-built (BEAST) school buses,” said Paul Start, GreenPower’s Vice President of Sales, School Bus Group. “(The) GreenPower school bus order pipeline and production schedule are both at record levels with sales projections for (2025) set to eclipse the 2024 calendar year.”
GreenPower moved into an 80,000-square-foot production facility in South Charleston, West Virigina in August 2022, and delivered its first buses to that state the following year.
Electrek’s Take
Since the first horseless carriage companies started operating 100 years ago (give or take), at least 1,900 different companies have been formed in the US, producing over 3,000 brands of American automobiles. By the mid 1980s, that had distilled down to “the big 3.”
All of which is to say: don’t let the recent round of bankruptcies fool you – startups in the car and truck industry is business as usual, but some of these companies will stick around. If you’re wondering which ones, look to the ones that are making units, not promises.
SOURCE | IMAGES: GreenPower Motors.
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While some recent high-profile bankruptcies have cast doubt on the EV startup space recently, medium-duty electric truck maker Harbinger got a shot of credibility this week with a massive $100 million Series B funding round co-led by Capricorn’s Technology Impact Fund.
It’s been a rough couple of weeks for fledgling EV brands like Lion Electric and Canoo, but box van builder Harbinger is bucking the trend, fueling its latest funding round with an order book of 4,690 vehicles that’s valued at nearly $500 million. Some of the company’s more notable customers including Bimbo Bakeries (which owns brands like Sara Lee, Thomas’, and Entenmann’s) and THOR Industries (Airstream, Jayco, Thor), which is also one of the investors in the Series B.
Other prominent investors include Tiger Global, the Coca-Cola System Sustainability Fund, and ArcTern Ventures.
As for what makes Harbinger such an attractive investment prospect, Dipender Saluja, Managing Partner of Capricorn Investment Group’s Technology Impact Fund explains that, “Harbinger has demonstrated a remarkable ability to reach significant milestones far quicker than other EV companies … the market has been impressed by their ability to develop large portions of the vehicle in-house to drive down unit costs, while remaining capital efficient.”
The company plans to use the funds to ramp up to higher-volume production capacity and deliver on existing orders, as well as build-out of the company’s sales, customer support, and service operations.
“Harbinger is entering a rapid growth phase where we are focused on scaling production of our customer-ready platform,” said John Harris, co-founder and CEO. “These funds catalyze significant revenue generation. We’ve developed a vehicle for a segment that is ripe for electrification, and there is a strong product/market fit that will help fuel our upward trajectory through 2025 and beyond.”
The company has raised $200 million since its inception in 2021.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Harbinger.
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