Mercedes-Maybach EQS SUV is luxury brand's first EV

The first all-electric model from Mercedes-Maybach ushers in a new era for the ultra-premium sub-brand as the German car maker pushes forwards with a profit-focused strategy centred on large luxury cars. 

A luxurious reimagining of the Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV, the range-topping Maybach EV, badged EQS 680, is hoped to help position the brand at the top of the EV league table by offering a bespoke luxury electric 4x4 that isn't yet offered by main rivals Bentley and Rolls-Royce. 

It is an evolution of the Maybach Concept EQS, first previewed at the Munich motor show in 2021, which itself “represents the transformation of Mercedes-Maybach from a tradition-rich luxury brand into a more progressive electric future,” said Philipp Schiemer, head of Mercedes-Benz’s Top End Vehicle Group, which is responsible for Maybach and the AMG performance division. 

Key specs include a 659bhp, 701lb ft twin-motor powertrain (up 123bhp, 68lb ft on the current top-wrung EQS 580 4Matic) and 373-mile range (down 5 miles from the same 108.4kWh battery). 4Matic four-wheel-drive is standard.

But it’s the interior that has seen the most attention, and where Mercedes hopes it can attract more buyers to the brand to boost on the 23,000 – of its 328,000 overall – sales it accrued last year.

It builds on the already-plush EQS 580 – which includes the new MBUX Hyperscreen – with vegetable-tanned Nappa leather ‘executive’ seats all round, Burmester 4D surround sound system, and typical Maybach chrome touches across the dash and doors.