Words by Nick Hendrix
To EV or not to EV? That is the question. I’ve had the same conversation too many times to count, as to whether an electric vehicle is the way to go. Whether it’s the right choice. Should we, in fact, be angling for Hydrogen power and is the EV movement in fact a misguided mission by world leaders that now has so much power and money behind it that we all have to just fall in line and get an electric car – irrespective of whether it’s in fact, in the long run, any better than petrol/diesel?
But the reality is I’m not a world leader, so I don’t have to make those kinds of decisions. What I am is just a petrolhead, standing in a showroom, asking ‘if I have to get an EV, what should I get?’ And, pertinently for me, are there any cool ones out there? Like, actually cool.
To try and answer this question I chose a brand that knows a thing or two about making cool cars. Silly cars. Fun cars. ‘Bad-idea’ cars: The fun house of AMG. Little makes me laugh out loud quite so regularly this side of a Lamborghini Aventador. I had high hopes for the Mercedes Benz EQS 53 AMG – the tuned up, ultra-high spec iteration of the EQS. So, expect executive leg room luxury with a dusting of the absurd.
People obsess over range when it comes to an EV, so I felt a drive to bonny Scotland seemed a decent enough test as to how these cars behave on a long journey. Plus, I had a wedding to go to with wife and child in tow, so a decent test of space and practicality. We all know that EV’s are really best placed ‘in and around town’ but if these cars are to be used by all they need to tackle the odd M road and be happy taking a family somewhere other than the school run or local Aldi. Well, probably more Waitrose, due to this AMG’s £160,000 price tag. No, it’s not your glasses. You read right.
First things first, as with all cars, how does it look? It’s a grower to put it kindly. Because of the lack of an engine in the front, back or middle, the design of an EV can be purely built around aero efficiency, not to mention that weighing-in at two-and-a-half tons it needs all the help it can get to move through the air. The perfect aero shape it seems is essentially one long gentle curve which gives the car a sleek but slug like shape, which is then softened and tuned up by various AMG add-ons; big wheels and drops of carbon fibre etc. It works. The model we were given was Designo Diamond White with black wheels which is not easily lost in a crowd.
Loading up a seven-month-old and a wife requires a surprisingly large amount of gubbins, my wife frequently re-asking whether ‘it was big, this electric car’ we were using. Given that my daily drive is a GLE with oodles of space I was a little worried I’d be making our journey more stressful rather than less. Thankfully the boot of the EQS is seriously good, for a luxury saloon, plus the boot opens as a hatch back so you get really good access too. Babies seem to come with more clothes than the cast of Downton Abbey and more kit than a Kiss concert, but the big Merc handled it all pretty well. Loaded up – we set off on a hell of a drive.
With the stunning panoramic ceiling giving my son endless blue sky to ogle at and my wife her own dashboard screen, all the family were occupied happily. I must mention the screen, or screens. Famously the EQS comes with (well it’s a very expensive extra actually) a display that fills the entire dashboard from door to door. It is ridiculous to be honest. Almost too big. And having controls for your passenger is something that I have failed to understand since I drove the Ferrari Portofino that had similar. Any passenger can reach the middle screen perfectly easily if they don’t like my third round of ‘N Sync’s No Strings Attached or wish to take over climate control. It feels slight technical overkill for me, but maybe I’m just old fashioned.
Employing the sat nav is where it is useful, as the map stretches from my right arm to somewhere across the Atlantic, so you really can see where you’re going. It also seems very up to date and very on it with charging points and service stations – which you need. You really need. The heads-up display is another tech frenzy of information, as if the designer was being paid per icon he could fit in view. I found the driving experience a little overloaded technologically to be honest.
I had intentionally booked two hotels for this journey, one on the way up and one on the way back to break up the, otherwise, seven-hour drive. Sadly, on the way up I was hit with my first issue – the hotel’s charging point wouldn’t work, I couldn’t work out why and it was, needless to say, pretty frustrating. Embracing the challenge, I thought I would simply use it as an excuse the next day to find the nearest charger and top up – all part of the experience etc.
Cut to the next day and I’m in a random car park, next to a lorry hire company, across the road from a small service station just off the M6. First signs of a ‘well this is glamourous’ look from my wife. A 45-minute charge and £12 gave me enough to charge to get me to a better charger, a faster charger. 40 minutes later and we stopped again at bigger services at Gretna Green for the IONITY chargers – these are the big boys, the fast chargers that Mercedes told me to look out for. Mutual looks of relief were shared with other EV drivers, as I plugged in the car to charge and went to buy yet more service station coffee.
Fully refreshed and nearly 100 per cent charged we headed off for Scotland, now feeling bullish and comfortable in our electric wealth. When driving without ‘range-fear’ the EQS is a masterpiece – effortlessly smooth, silent other than a little air noise, every comfort add on you can think of (my wife a big fan of the massage chair) and when baby wasn’t asleep, a sound system that Lord Eavis would envy. It’s a lovely place to be and when sitting on a motorway in cruise control, barely driving the car at all. There seems little need for a shouty V8 or fat bi turbos – you can’t hear them, and you sit at the same speed for hours. EV winning in this setting.
Comfortably arriving in sleepy Kinross, I quickly I learned that for some reason the wedding reception and ceremony the next day were an hour apart which completely scuppered my range calculations and led me to search for local charging points for a top up. I was already tiring of miles maths. Thankfully Kinross had chargers at their park and ride; although it meant driving at 10.30pm to plug in and then walking a lonely 25 minutes back to our Airbnb, grumpy in the knowledge I’d have to do the return journey in the morning.
I jogged there in the morning to a full battery and ‘Selfish Bastard’ writ large on a note on my windscreen. Naïve to the charging world, I think what I’d done was plug in overnight to a fast charger that probably finished after about an hour and half, but then occupied that charger all night. Oops. Still, I felt all warm and fuzzy with a full charge.
The wedding came and went with full Scottish charm and merriment (and bizarrely Caribbean weather.) Hangovers dealt with and packing done, we set off on the return leg via the aristocratic Matfen Hall Hotel, I was feeling good about the range and was enjoying the drive safe in the knowledge the hotel had a charge point.
What do they say about best laid plans? Sadly, for reasons I’ll explain later I couldn’t make the car charge overnight, which, yet again, led me to search the nearby countryside at 11pm. Cut to me parking this six-figure technological wonder in a small, basic, civic car park in a spooky little village, waiting to get enough charge to get me some distance the next day. Arriving back at the wonderful Matfen Hall at around 1am wasn’t the best way to make use of the gargantuan palace of a suite my wife and son had been enjoying in my absence. Thankfully the next morning a sumptuous breakfast was enjoyed in the room, sitting at a grand table overlooking the glorious grounds.
After a lovely visit to the impressive hotel pool where I let the little one have a good splash around, we packed up our bags and said fond farewells to the diligent staff. Shout out to Gareth. Sad to see the back of the wonderful Matfen Hall (we’ll be back) we sped off, yet again in search of an IONITY charger to see us all the way home.
You can review a car with AMG and its boot without talking speed – it’s a very different experience with this new breed of hyper fast EV’s. We all know the technology is capable of firing two or three ton vehicles to 60 at an alarming, Caterham 7, Honda R1, Bugatti Chiron speed. Videos online of Tesla SUVs drag racing supercars are ten a penny – and don’t get me wrong it is impressive. But, for me, it lacks the visceral sensation of mechanics making it happen – twitching of tyres, bangs and pops from the exhaust and a feeling that this is both fun and dangerous.
The EQS 53 is fantastically quick, especially given its size and shape and I certainly whipped it around some country roads with agility that belies its hulking weight, which was fun. But it feels disjointed somehow to do that. It’s nice to know it can out-sprint an Audi R8 or 911, but I’m not sure I’d prove it in public. I’d rather waft silently down the motorway with it – easing my way to my destination almost imperceptibly.
To wrap up this electric road trip, I must qualify my many frustrations with the EV charging network with the fact that Mercedes actually, accidentally of course, supplied me with a faulty cable. So, the late-night charges, in barren car parks, which plagued my trip, weren’t down to a failing at any hotel or charge point. But what I learned from this was still true, the network is there but the constant threat of ‘will we make it’ makes for a less than exciting road trip experience. So may be the truth remains, for short journeys where distance and range aren’t an issue, then yes, EV’s are great. But travelling over long distances to a destination that requires some punctuality? Less great. Less relaxing.
So, should I EV or not EV? I have to say with fuel soon becoming more expensive than vintage champagne (thanks Vladimir) it’s hard to ignore the financial argument. Not to mention, now that AMG are in the game, I may be a little more than tempted – just be sure to check the cables first!
With thanks to:
Mercedes Benz – mercedes-benz.co.uk
Matfen Hall Hotel – matfenhall.com
