• EQS interior is very flash
• Which may not be to all tastes
• Quality hasn’t blown us away

How is the quality and layout?

The wow factor upon entering the cabin of the Mercedes EQS for the first time is stratospheric. Even without the optional Hyperscreen infotainment system you get a large 12.8-inch central touchscreen for the MBUX operating system and a 12.3-inch digital instrument display. The seats are large and luxuriously appointed, the dashboard smartly finished – with distinctive ‘ship-deck’ wood on some versions – and the ambient lighting is extensive.

But after only a short while you start to wonder if it isn’t all a bit… much. There is nothing subtle – or really tasteful – about the EQS’s interior at all. The ambient lighting is like Tokyo at night, even in the most muted of its 64 colour settings, and the use of touch-sensitive controls throughout erodes the ease-of-use, especially when you’re driving.

Worse still, the cabin creaks and resonates in a manner that doesn’t feel particularly prestigious in a vehicle that’s supposed to be the electric equivalent of an S-Class. The indicator stalks and other remaining switchgear also feel rather flimsy for a £100,000+ car.

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Infotainment and tech

The EQS uses the Mercedes-Benz User Experience infotainment system – MBUX for short. It’s very slick to look at, reasonably responsive and easy to navigate within its menu system on the standard 12.8-inch screen, and does a pretty good job of understanding you if you choose to speak to it (just say ‘Hey Mercedes’). But most of its controls are touch-sensitive, and these can take some getting used to.

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The optional Hyperscreen is hugely impressive if you are prepared to pay the extra £7,995 it costs. It turns almost all of the front dashboard into a digital surface by combining three screens behind a single pane of glass – giving front-seat passengers more to play with in the process. However, as with the other showier aspects of the EQS interior, it also risks becoming a distraction for the driver.

Comfort

• Lots of space and adjustability
• Rear Luxury Lounge option
• Refinement could be much better

The seats in the EQS are very comfortable and should offer good support on longer journeys. There’s plenty of adjustment up front as standard, while an optional Rear Luxury Lounge package optimises the experience for those who prefer to be driven. This adds ‘multi-contour’ massaging seats and a rear climate control system commanded by a tablet in the central armrest, among other items.

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Though this isn’t as sophisticated as the Airline Seat specification available in the Bentley Bentayga EWB, it is a pretty good upgrade over the basic EQS spec. In either case, rear legroom is very generous – although, as we’ve already mentioned, things will become less fun if you attempt to add a fifth passenger. While the seatbelt is there, the EQS is much more of a four-seater set-up.

Also disappointing is the refinement. Some models roll on particularly large wheels, which generate a lot of road noise, and there’s a general sense of echo-y creakiness that’s perhaps more apparent with the sound of a conventional engine to mask it. A BMW iX does silent electric luxury much better than this.