Louth Motors: The luxurious Mercedes EQB

The electrification of Mercedes continues apace and here we have the EQB. A seven seater SUV no less, at a time when seven seats are not much of a must have any more. The SUV must have still applies; so this car has two arrows in its quiver.

It's an electrified version of the GLB which has proven to be a bit of a seller for Mercedes and the EQB is the logical choice if you want a GLB but want to play your part in the electrification of transport and go electric. Sales of GLB and EQB this year match, thereabouts, the total sales of the GLB last year so it looks like Mercedes are holding onto their buyers with this electric offering.

Now the GLB, to me, is the least attractive Mercedes on sale. It doesn't looks as sleek and refined as other models and some of the lines look simply wrong. The kink up at the back at the C-pillar for example looks like it was a functional necessity so we did just that. But the designer should have been a bit more forceful and not accept it. It is by no means ugly, just not as honed and fluid as other Mercedes models. And the closed-off grille that is de rigueur for electric cars it seems isn't as fetching as the GLB which, of the two, would be my preferred look.

Inside it is an anorak’s mastermind test to find the differences between the GLB and EQB and there is a very good reason for this. It's an excellent interior so why tweak it and possibly mess it up. It is well laid out and the driver’s cockpit display and centre display merge beautifully together above the simply classy central air vents. I really love using these for on and off and air direction just so I can use them. Material feel is so important in a car and when you touch these you get an immediate sense of superb quality thats present throughout the car.

I can’t recall a Mercedes interior in recent years where materials used are sub par and the EQB wasn't going to break that run. There’s just something very pleasurable sitting in a Mercedes interior. The touch sensitive steering wheel to control the features of the car create a commander in chief feel and you can control just about anything from it.

Between the front passengers is a touchpad for similar control but I never really used it. If you find all that a bit too much to absorb the excellent Mercedes MBUX voice control is the way to go. I know if this was my car I’d spend as much time as necessary to hone talking to the car. It is so much safer and once you master its idiosyncrasies for control it is much easier. I really do appreciate all the effort car companies are putting into their voice control and it can only get better and better.

The GLB has a boot that's 570 litres in size. By going electric the EQB’s boot is reduced to 495 litres. Ok that's a bit of a compromise but most of the time you'll have the third row of seats - that let’s face it are really only for smaller passengers and occasional adults for short trips - folded down yielding a whopping 1,715 litres that’ll not only take your weekly shop, it’ll take the parishes.

I am a huge fan of the immediacy of power that an electric motor gives you and the ease this makes driving in a town/urban environment. Smooth delivery of power, fast, has always challenged car companies but with electric power they seem to get it right nearly all of the time.

Mercedes certainly have in the EQB and I’d prefer the electric version over the petrol/diesel GLB. Noise is minimal and I’d give the GLB a B+ for sound eradication. Road manners are quite good for an SUV and bodyroll wasn’t a factor I recorded, making rural trips travel sickness free for passengers. Theres a bit of fun for the driver as well when pressed but again theres something about driving a Mercedes that keeps the urge to fling the car around firmly at bay. The goal is luxurious transport, not single seat performance and ride.

Range is a claimed 419 km which is north of the reassuring 400 km threshold. I managed 18.7kW per 100kms from the 66.5 kWh battery which translates to my range being 355 kms. The car can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/hr in 8.0s and is good for 160km/hr and I always make allowance for me not reaching the manufacturers figures because the temptation to use the acceleration power is too great and I’m not the best at resisting. Note I said acceleration and not flat out.

There are not many 7-seater electric seater cars out there so the EQB has a bit of an advantage for anyone looking for one. It is a luxury electric car that plays a number of roles but it’s electric. That will get it across the line ahead of competitors be it Mercedes itself, or other manufacturers. Prices start at €65,660 for the entry model but I drove the EQB 300 4Matic with nearly €7k worth of optional extras.

I’d go so far as to say those prices are OK because let's face it nearly all electric cars are expensive and to get a decent Irish, European or World Car of the Year you’ll need a minimum of €50k so in that context the EQB is relatively keen.
If only they’d applied some GLC or GLE finesse to the exterior design.