Mercedes EQS may be offered with rear-wheel drive option

Mercedes-Benz is likely to offer the EQS electric sedan, its answer to Tesla Model S, with a rear-wheel drive option in select markets. According to reports, the German carmaker will offer the electric car with the feature as a subscription model.

The EQS, which was unveiled in April this year, will allow the driver to turn not only the front, but also the rear wheels. By default, the rear wheels can turn up to 4.5 degrees, but the design allows them to turn up to 10 degrees.

At low speed, the wheels of the front and rear axles can turn in opposite directions, which will reduce the turning radius and improve manoeuvrability.

The EQS luxury electric sedan, a first from Mercedes, features a number of features, which include a 'Hyperscreen' option with a display that spans across the entire instrument panel and also with steering that moves the rear axle wheels.

Mercedes will offer the EQS with two sets of battery packs. It will get 90 and 108 kWh capacity lithium-ion batteries with liquid cooling. Mercedes EQS will come with DC fast charging option besides the regular 22 kW and 11 kW AC options. Mercedes claims that the DC fast charging of up to 200 kW can charge the EQS from 10% to 80% in 31 minutes. This will help the EQS to gather enough recharge to run for about 300 kms in just 15 minutes of charging. Mercedes also claims the EQS will offer better driving range of well over 700 kms per single charge and will beat some of its key rivals like Tesla Model S.

The EQS 450+ will come equipped with a 333 hp engine and 568 Nm of torque in combination with the rear drive and the automatic transmission. The EQS 580 4Matic will have all-wheel drive opti, and an engine with 524 hp of power and 855 Nm of torque.

The Mercedes EQS 450+ RWD variant can hit zero to 100 kmph in just 6.2 seconds, while the EQS 580 4MATIC AWD will able to do it in 4.3 seconds. The top speed of the EQS will be 210 kmph.