Have Your Cake and Eat It! AMG’s New Performance Electric EQE Range is Coming
AMG EQE Has All the Performance You’d Expect from an AMG E-Class. But it’s Electric!
So you’re a Mercedes-AMG performance nut, but you also have a conscience? What to do? Is it still possible to enjoy seismic performance while still embracing the planet? Of course, it is! Now there’s an Electric E-Class coming with precisely the performance of an AMG E63+. Enter the Mercedes-AMG EQE 53+
The latest weapon in Mercedes-AMG’s rapidly mushrooming electric performance armory, the Plus is part of a brand new 3-car AMG EQE range. Affalterbach’s latest contribution to battery driving is based on Merc’s most recent EQE EV. Which basically means that these are AMG versions of Merc’s latest electric E Class. Topped by the all-new 677 HP 738 lb.-ft Mercedes-AMG EQE 53 4MATIC+, the latest Mercedes electric super saloon is aided and abetted by a regular 617 HP and 701 lb.-ft 53 model and an entry level 450 HP 43 version.
Proper AMG Performance
Good for 60 mph in under 3.3 seconds, which is identical to an E63+, the 2.7-ton 53+ (above) has a 149-mph top whack. The regular 53 beats 3.5 seconds and tops 136 mph and the entry 43 (below) rushes to 60 this side of 4.2 seconds and tops out at 130 mph. EQE AMG rides on a specially tuned EVA2 platform. Powered by a pair of electric motors, one per axle, both units get adapted windings and laminations, higher currents, and a specific inverter. In a new powertrain and cooling concept to allow flat-out abuse, so long as the battery has charge.
That 90.6 kWh usable battery delivers up to 331 miles WLTP range. You can choose three levels of energy regeneration while driving. The strongest setting enables one-pedal driving. 11 kW onboard charging is standard, with 22 kW capability available as an option. It takes just 15 minutes to add an extra 112 miles at 170 kW charging. The EQE 53’s more powerful motors impact slightly on range, at 322 miles. All models will get over-the-air updates to improve battery management during their life cycles.
The aft motor is six-phase contraption. Its output alters depends on the drive mode selected. Slippery and Comfort modes limit output to 50 and 80% respectively. Sport gets 90% and Sport Plus benefits the full hundred per cent. But wait, Race Start will give you 110%. The joys of performance electric motoring! So deployed, a dynamic packed 53+ will rush to 60 just as quickly, and silently as Audi’s hallowed RS e-tron GT. And far quieter than its brusque gas brother.
EQE is a Proper AMG
The hot EQEs get AMG-specific wheel carriers and suspension links, stiffer anti-roll bars and rear-axle steering. And AMG adaptive damping is tuned both for good ride comfort and flat out Nordscheife dynamics. There are Monster AMG front and rear disc brakes. Or you can tick that option box for even bigger ceramic clamps. That’s over and above a so-called i-Booster to better mix hydraulic retardation and electric recuperation. And said to feel like regular AMG wheel brakes all on its own, while also allowing one-pedal driving.
All of which means it’s basically an AMG E63+ in electric drag. And just in case it does not sound like a genuine fire-breathing gasoline V8 AMG, like the AMG EQS, this one gets fake noises inside. You can choose between traditional AMG sporty, balanced and even powerful tones. You need to squint a little to tell the range optimized AMGs apart from the regular EQE siblings. The blackened grille and body-colored bumper top a new front apron and splitter. Add new sills, a new rear diffuser and apron. And lightweight AMG alloys.
Step inside to find typical AMG pews, pedals, and a Performance steering wheel. Red stitched leather and mats, and AMG badging add effect. There’s another option box to tick to specify your very own gargantuan Mercedes Hyperdash (below). The one that spans the entire width of the car.
But Wait, EQE AMG is Just the Start!
“With these two new models, we expand our purely electric powered performance vehicle range to address additional target groups,” AMG boss Philipp Schiemer pointed out. “This is not the end of our Future of Driving Performance: performance hybrids and all-electric AMG derivatives based on this platform and even standalone AMG electric vehicles based on our completely in-house developed AMG.EA platform will follow in the not-too-distant future.”
The AMG EQEs will go on sale in the US early 2023. So yes, you can soon have your AMG cake and eat it. Electrifying times indeed!
Photos: Mercedes