When we were in Germany to take pleasure in a prolonged stint behind the wheel of the 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQE, our handlers shoehorned in a transient generate of the 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQB as a initially style of the battery-run subcompact SUV that goes on sale in the States later on this 12 months. Whilst the EQE is very state-of-the-art in every way—leading-edge aerodynamics, intergalactic sensor array, sci-fi Hyperscreen, sepulchral silence—the EQB is brighter, lighter, simpler to use, and more pleasurable to push.
That brightness is literal. The gasoline-driven GLB’s upright, roller-skate form is unchanged for the electric powered model, and the tall home windows welcome heaps of gentle into the cabin and offer significantly improved visibility out of it than we experienced by means of the compressed greenhouse of the EQE.
Exterior adjustments from GLB to EQB are couple of. The only way to discover this as the all-electrical model is from the entrance by the black panel grille topped with a total-width LED light-weight bar and at the rear by the total-width LED bar connecting the taillights. The EQB will also give an distinctive rose-gold exterior hue and wheel alternatives, plus blue trim highlights, depending on picked out selection packages.
There are some hidden aerodynamic tweaks. Air operates earlier a resculpted entrance bumper to active lower shutters, the entrance reduce and rear hatch spoilers are reshaped, there’s a completely enclosed and ribbed underfloor, and the wheel layouts are altered. These initiatives decreased the coefficient of drag from the .31 clocked by the GLB 250 4Matic to .28.
The EQB inside maintains the passenger space of the GLB, and it also features a pint-sized 3rd row as an alternative. Cargo space, however, is diminished. The EQB gives up as a lot as five cubic toes of luggage area based on how the second and third rows are arranged.
When compared to the EQE, the tech suite is vastly downsized. The 10.3-inch electronic cluster and 10.3-inch infotainment touchscreen are the full clearly show for interactive displays a head-up show is an solution. As soon as on the street, the EQB is mostly analog and mute. Nothing at all to do right here but drive.
Mercedes lists the control fat for the EQB 350 4Matic we drove at 4795 pounds, which tends to make it far more than 1000 pounds heavier than its gasoline-powered counterpart. Spreading that fat small in the chassis functions like a mass damper, tamping skittishness around rough roadways about town as well as countering roll via twisty bits.
The EQB, while, is a claimed 400 kilos lighter than the EQE 350 4Matic. And the EQB 350 4Matic helps make the identical 288 horsepower as the EQE 350, and its 384 pound-toes of torque is just fractionally reduce, so those lacking 400 pounds make their absence felt when accelerating or cornering. (An EQB 300 4Matic with 225 horsepower and 288 pound-feet will also be provided.) The electric motors in the EQB also vanquish the laggy throttle we lamented in the GLB 250 4Matic, with the result becoming that the crossover dove as a result of serpentine roads outside Stuttgart feeling much more like the AMG GLB 35.
With a 66.5-kWh battery, the European WLTP range figure checks in at 260 miles. Our EPA-rated amount will be lower, whilst we don’t expect the EQB to finish up significantly from the Audi Q4 E-tron and the Volkswagen ID.4—the levels of competition Mercedes-Benz is concentrating on. Hooking up to a DC fast-charger at the pack’s max charge amount of 100 kW normally takes the battery from 10 per cent to 80 per cent in 32 minutes, according to Mercedes.
The EQB welcomes drivers to the environment of electron-fueled powertrains without having threat of electronic overload, making it a steppingstone to the EQE in far more approaches than system, cost, and design designation. The two EVs are dandy for diverse explanations. The EQE wants to be all you have to have and all you can picture needing for the foreseeable electrical long term, but its finding out curve is extensive. The EQB, by contrast, is a common, laid-back, simple city auto that also enjoys a minor electrical boogaloo alongside pleasurable two-lane back roadways. For everyone who finds the GLB interesting, there is certainly practically nothing here not to like.
Requirements
Specs
2022 Mercedes-Benz EQB
Vehicle Sort: entrance- and rear-motor, all-wheel-generate, 5- or 7-passenger, 4-door wagon
Rate (C/D EST)
Foundation: 300 4Matic, $45,000 350 4Matic, $65,000
POWERTRAIN
Entrance Motor: long term-magnet induction AC
Rear Motor: long-lasting-magnet synchronous AC
Combined Ability: 225 or 288 hp
Blended Torque: 288 or 384 lb-ft
Battery Pack: liquid-cooled lithium-ion, 66.5 kWh
Onboard Charger: 11. kW
Transmissions, F/R: direct-drive
Proportions
Wheelbase: 111.4 in
Length: 184.4 in
Width: 72.2 in
Height: 67.0–67.2 in
Cargo Quantity: 23 ft3
Curb Body weight (C/D est): 4800 lb
General performance (C/D EST)
60 mph: 6.0–7.8 sec
1/4-Mile: ¬14.7–16.2 sec
Leading Pace: 100 mph
EPA Gasoline Economy (C/D EST)
Blended/Town/Freeway: 97/97/97 MPGe
Variety: 250 mi
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