PARIS -- Mercedes-Benz continues to expand its full-electric vehicle portfolio with the EQE SUV crossover, which will take on the BMW iX that is already among the top five best-sellers in the large premium SUV segment in Europe.
Mercedes unveiled the EQE SUV was revealed on Sunday in Paris – but the EV will not be on display this week at the Paris auto show.
The EQE SUV will have a 90 kilowatt-hour battery with a maximum range of 590 km (316 miles) on the WLTP scale. Power output is 215 or 300 kilowatts. In comparison, the more aerodynamic EQE sedan version’s range is up to 640 km.
Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Kallenius said the EQE SUV would give the brand the "most complete" electric vehicle lineup of any automaker.
"Our customers and moving fast and we are moving with them," he said in Paris on Sunday.
Kallenius said Mercedes' global sales of full-electric cars increased by 115 percent in the third quarter compared with the same period last year.
Mercedes describes the EQE SUV as “more dynamic” than the larger EQS SUV, and there are key differences even with the EQE sedan. The SUV version is 4863 mm long, 77 mm shorter than the sedan, and its wheelbase of 3030 mm is 90 mm shorter, which Mercedes says makes it feel especially agile.
Optional suspension upgrades include air suspension that can add 30 mm of ground clearance and rear-wheel steering with a maximum angle of 10 degrees, decreasing turning radius to 10.5 meters from 12.3.
The EQE SUV will be available initially with rear-wheel drive only, but later 4Matic versions will have an electric motor powering the front wheels, which is decoupled automatically when not needed to increase range.
Model designations are 350+ for the base rear-wheel drive model with 215 kW, 350 4Matic with AWD and 215 kW, and 500 4Matic with AWD and 300 kW.
There will be two AMG performance versions available, both with all-wheel drive. The AMG EQE 43 has 350 kW of power and accelerates from 0-100 kph (62 mph) in 4.3 seconds. The AMG EQE 53, with 505 kW, cuts that time to 3.5 seconds.