The Mercedes-Benz EQE is a two-row SUV that comes with a 170 kilowatt charge rate on fast charge, which may seem lower than some other electric vehicles on the market. However, one nice thing about this vehicle is its navigation software, which includes a route optimization feature. This means that when you plug in your destination, the software will figure out the most efficient way to get you from where you are to where you're going, hopefully minimizing any need for charging while on the road.

The interior of the EQE is a nice place to be, with a leather-wrapped steering wheel that is heated. The touch capacitive buttons can be a bit finicky and may take some getting used to, but they offer one-hand control over various functions, making it easy to use without taking your hands off the wheel. However, the navigation system's functionality requires a certain level of practice to master.

The EQE features a 12.3-inch display, which is smaller than some other models in Mercedes-Benz's lineup. We really like this one, though, as it's easy to use with one hand and controls not only infotainment but also vehicle settings, such as lighting customization. The interior can be tailored to suit individual preferences or moods.

One notable feature of the EQE is its Hyper Screen display, which was also available in our previous test model, the EQS sedan. We appreciated the size and usability of this screen, finding it easy to navigate with one hand. In contrast, we didn't enjoy the Hyper Screen on the EQS, finding it overwhelming and difficult to use.

When it comes to cargo space, the EQE's dimensions are as follows: 29.7 inches in front legroom, 33.6 inches in rear legroom, and 25.8 inches of cargo volume behind the rear seats. While this is decent space for a two-row SUV, some may find it insufficient, especially if they plan to transport larger items.

As part of our test process, we measured all of the cargo space to ensure accuracy. We also noticed that the EQE has a "frunk" – a term used to describe the front compartment where you'd typically store small items such as bags or tools. However, Mercedes-Benz doesn't allow access to this compartment without a special tool, requiring a visit to the dealership.

The EQE was purchased with an additional package that includes some of the latest safety features from Mercedes-Benz. The feature we're most looking forward to testing is the Advanced Driver Monitoring system, which tracks the driver's attention while using advanced safety features on the vehicle. This will be put to the test on our dedicated Adas Loop at our test track.

We have over 50 tests planned for this EQE, including acceleration, braking, handling, and ride comfort evaluations. We're excited to get this vehicle up to its 2,000-mile mark and share all of our findings with you on Consumer Reports' website.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhi I'm Michael Crossen Automotive technician here at consumer reports and we're in the shop at the automotive test center and this is the 2023 Mercedes-Benz eqe 350 4matic SUV we purchased this vehicle anonymously for a test program just like we purchased all of our test Vehicles we paid 84 690 that includes more than five thousand dollars in options so this name is a mouthful EQ is what Mercedes calls their electric vehicles the E on the end of eqe is indicating this is a mid-sized vehicle similar in size to an E-class sedan the 350 refers to a Powertrain number it's sort of a legacy throwback it really has nothing to do with this particular vehicle in fact this vehicle makes 280 horsepower and 564 foot-pounds of torque and that's a really strong torque number 4matic is Mercedes-Benz all-wheel drive system and then they add that SUV on the end to let us know that it is in fact an SUV and is not a sedan like the eqe sedan its sibling all right so let's be honest on electric vehicle charging rate and range are probably the two most important things that's what everybody always asks me what about these electric vehicles how far can I drive on and how long does it take to charge Mercedes-Benz says this car can go 253 miles on a single charge and of course we know that that number can differ in the real world so with our 170 kilowatt charge rate on fast charge it is a little bit lower than some other electric vehicles we see out there on the market but one nice thing Mercedes has done in their navigation software they've included a root optimization feature so when you plug into your destination the software will figure out the most efficient way to get you from where you are to where you're going hopefully to minimize any kind of need for charging while out on the road so the interior of this two row SUV is a pretty nice place to be we've got a leather wrapped steering wheel that is heated we have touch capacitive buttons and on one hand that's great that way you don't have to take your hands off the steering wheel to make selections and changes as you're going down the road however these are a little bit tricky to use it's often very easy to make a wrong selection they're just a little bit finicky and it definitely has a little bit of a learning curve so you want to play with those before you really get on the road and learn how they work so this vehicle has the 12.3 inch display not the big hyper screen that we have seen for Mercedes and other models we really like this one though it's really easy to use with one hand and not only does it control all of your infotainment but it has a lot of the vehicle settings and things too so in here we can manage lighting for example that's another key feature of this vehicle you can really customize the interior to sort of whatever suits yourself or your mood in that day the Mercedes-Benz hyper screen is available in this model we've tried in the eqs sedan and we didn't love it it's overwhelming it's difficult to use and we really do appreciate the size of this one you can pretty much use one hand to do all of the functionality that you need to do so I moved to the back seat of this vehicle I left the front seat exactly where I had it when I was in the driver's seat I've got plenty of Headroom plenty of leg room in front of me as well very easy to get in and out of a second adult back here would be no problem at all if you put three adults back here I could definitely see it getting a little crowded so like all of our test Vehicles we put 2 000 miles on them before any of our testing begins so at this point as I'm standing here we have just about 800 miles on this vehicle we're already starting to see some wear and tear on the driver's seat it's basically transfer what seems to be off of jeans the die from Blue Jeans is starting to transfer itself onto that leather so this is definitely a consideration if you're thinking about choosing a light color interior on any vehicle so one of the things we do in our test process is we measure all of this cargo space so we'll know exactly how much stuff we can put back here but one thing you can't count on this vehicle is a frunk we know some electric vehicles have that you get a few extra bags up front but this one doesn't have that in fact Mercedes doesn't even let you open the hood on this vehicle it requires a special tool at the dealership so we're seeing this on a lot of electric vehicles a lot of them are showing up with summer Tires on them and we feel that's because they're lower rolling resistance to help out the range of these electric vehicles so we bought this eqe we chose an additional package that's getting us the latest and the greatest from Mercedes-Benz in terms of all these driver safety systems the feature we're most looking forward to testing is this Advanced Driver monitoring system this is a system that monitors the driver to make sure they're paying attention while they're using all the advanced safety features on the vehicle we're gonna be able to test that out on our test track we have a dedicated Adas Loop where we can take this vehicle drive and put all these systems to the test to see exactly how they work we're really excited about getting this vehicle up to that 2000 mile Mark we have more than 50 tests that we're going to perform on this eqe acceleration braking handling and ride Comfort check back on consumerreports.org for all of our final test results and vehicle rating on this eqehi I'm Michael Crossen Automotive technician here at consumer reports and we're in the shop at the automotive test center and this is the 2023 Mercedes-Benz eqe 350 4matic SUV we purchased this vehicle anonymously for a test program just like we purchased all of our test Vehicles we paid 84 690 that includes more than five thousand dollars in options so this name is a mouthful EQ is what Mercedes calls their electric vehicles the E on the end of eqe is indicating this is a mid-sized vehicle similar in size to an E-class sedan the 350 refers to a Powertrain number it's sort of a legacy throwback it really has nothing to do with this particular vehicle in fact this vehicle makes 280 horsepower and 564 foot-pounds of torque and that's a really strong torque number 4matic is Mercedes-Benz all-wheel drive system and then they add that SUV on the end to let us know that it is in fact an SUV and is not a sedan like the eqe sedan its sibling all right so let's be honest on electric vehicle charging rate and range are probably the two most important things that's what everybody always asks me what about these electric vehicles how far can I drive on and how long does it take to charge Mercedes-Benz says this car can go 253 miles on a single charge and of course we know that that number can differ in the real world so with our 170 kilowatt charge rate on fast charge it is a little bit lower than some other electric vehicles we see out there on the market but one nice thing Mercedes has done in their navigation software they've included a root optimization feature so when you plug into your destination the software will figure out the most efficient way to get you from where you are to where you're going hopefully to minimize any kind of need for charging while out on the road so the interior of this two row SUV is a pretty nice place to be we've got a leather wrapped steering wheel that is heated we have touch capacitive buttons and on one hand that's great that way you don't have to take your hands off the steering wheel to make selections and changes as you're going down the road however these are a little bit tricky to use it's often very easy to make a wrong selection they're just a little bit finicky and it definitely has a little bit of a learning curve so you want to play with those before you really get on the road and learn how they work so this vehicle has the 12.3 inch display not the big hyper screen that we have seen for Mercedes and other models we really like this one though it's really easy to use with one hand and not only does it control all of your infotainment but it has a lot of the vehicle settings and things too so in here we can manage lighting for example that's another key feature of this vehicle you can really customize the interior to sort of whatever suits yourself or your mood in that day the Mercedes-Benz hyper screen is available in this model we've tried in the eqs sedan and we didn't love it it's overwhelming it's difficult to use and we really do appreciate the size of this one you can pretty much use one hand to do all of the functionality that you need to do so I moved to the back seat of this vehicle I left the front seat exactly where I had it when I was in the driver's seat I've got plenty of Headroom plenty of leg room in front of me as well very easy to get in and out of a second adult back here would be no problem at all if you put three adults back here I could definitely see it getting a little crowded so like all of our test Vehicles we put 2 000 miles on them before any of our testing begins so at this point as I'm standing here we have just about 800 miles on this vehicle we're already starting to see some wear and tear on the driver's seat it's basically transfer what seems to be off of jeans the die from Blue Jeans is starting to transfer itself onto that leather so this is definitely a consideration if you're thinking about choosing a light color interior on any vehicle so one of the things we do in our test process is we measure all of this cargo space so we'll know exactly how much stuff we can put back here but one thing you can't count on this vehicle is a frunk we know some electric vehicles have that you get a few extra bags up front but this one doesn't have that in fact Mercedes doesn't even let you open the hood on this vehicle it requires a special tool at the dealership so we're seeing this on a lot of electric vehicles a lot of them are showing up with summer Tires on them and we feel that's because they're lower rolling resistance to help out the range of these electric vehicles so we bought this eqe we chose an additional package that's getting us the latest and the greatest from Mercedes-Benz in terms of all these driver safety systems the feature we're most looking forward to testing is this Advanced Driver monitoring system this is a system that monitors the driver to make sure they're paying attention while they're using all the advanced safety features on the vehicle we're gonna be able to test that out on our test track we have a dedicated Adas Loop where we can take this vehicle drive and put all these systems to the test to see exactly how they work we're really excited about getting this vehicle up to that 2000 mile Mark we have more than 50 tests that we're going to perform on this eqe acceleration braking handling and ride Comfort check back on consumerreports.org for all of our final test results and vehicle rating on this eqe\n"