Design & Home
Mercedes-Benz’s New All-Electric Sedan Is Luxury Redefined
Interior of the Mercedes-Benz EQS 580 4MATIC (Photo courtesy of Mercedes-Benz)When it comes to automobiles, there’s a place for sound and fury, from the pulse-quickening cry of a Porsche flat six to the mad harmonics of a Ferrari V12. But silence has its delights as well. For sometimes one needs a respite and few automobiles deliver a flavor of silence as delectable as that of the Mercedes-Benz EQS 580 4MATIC.
The EQS’s whisper-quiet ride derives in large part from its all-electric drivetrain and also from an incredibly sleek, aerodynamic body that virtually eliminates wind noise, as well as strategically situated acoustic foam and optional acoustic glass that dramatically reduce the racket from the road and the surrounding environment. The EQS’s ride is not just silent, but seductively smooth, thanks to a standard AIRMATIC air suspension whose adaptive dampers ensure that even if a single tire encounters a bump, the vibration is not transmitted to the interior.
But what will you make of all this tranquility? Do you prefer the quiet company of your own thoughts? Or with a quick “Hey, Mercedes,” will you summon one of the EQS’s Energizing Nature sound schemes, whether Summer Rain, Forest Glade or Sounds of the Sea, all created in collaboration with the acoustic ecologist Gordon Hempton? Or might you dial up your favorite satellite station on the Burmester surround sound system whose sparkling treble, bold midrange and luscious bass rival those of the highest-end home hi-fi?
While you’re cruising in auditory bliss, wrapped in the embrace of a Nappa leather-clad multicontour seat, which of the 10 massage programs might you dial up? Deep Waves, perhaps, in which wavelike movements in the cushion promote blood flow and metabolic processes in the lower back and legs? Or Hot Relaxing Back, a program based on the hot stone principle, which massages the back while applying heat to a series of pressure points? Or Mobilizing Massage, whose upward-moving waves improve the supply of oxygen to your cells by promoting deep, slow breathing?
With every breath, keep in mind that the air in the EQS’s cabin is scrupulously pure, scrubbed free of fine dust, microparticles, pollen, viruses and bacteria by Energizing Air Control Plus, a filtration system so sophisticated that it achieves a level of pollutant reduction comparable to that of clean rooms and operating rooms.
Or if olfactory ambiance is your thing, simply activate the EQS’s fragrance function with a few taps of the MBUX Hyperscreen — a stunning expanse of aluminum silicate glass that stretches from A-pillar to A-pillar — and an atomizer concealed in the glove box perfumes the cabin with a fragrance called No.6 MOOD Linen, a bespoke blend of floral, citric and musky notes around a heart of fig and linen. The effect is at once calming and revivifying, much like that of the EQS itself, a uniquely forward-looking automobile designed as much for the journey from here to there as it is for the journey within.
