Mercedes EQE SUV Real-World Range Test: 275-Mile Road Trip at 19.1 kWh/100 km With One Charging Stop
I drove the Mercedes EQE 350 4MATIC SUV 443 km (275 miles) across Romania, on two-lane roads and the A7 highway, with luggage and family on board. It averaged 19.1 kWh/100 km, and a single coffee-break charge was all it needed.
Can a big, heavy luxury electric SUV also be efficient on a long trip? I wanted to find out for myself, so I loaded the luggage into a Mercedes EQE 350 4MATIC SUV and drove home from Câmpina, in the Carpathian foothills, to northeastern Romania: two-lane national road, the A7 highway, then two-lane road again. After 443 km (275 miles), the trip computer showed an average of 19.1 kWh/100 km (about 3.3 miles per kWh), with a single charging stop over a cup of coffee.
The start: 64% battery and a lesson about household outlets
Over the weekend I had been charging the car from a regular outlet with the portable charger. It only pulled about 1.8 kW, and the unit itself says its maximum is 1.9 kW. That's fine for a top-up overnight, but not for filling a big battery. So I set off with 64% and an estimated 243 km (151 miles) of range, which the car calculates from my own driving style.
The first stretch, from Câmpina (around 400 m / 1,300 ft above sea level) down to Ploiești on the DN1 road, was mostly downhill. Consumption showed it: I reached Ploiești at about 14 kWh/100 km, and the remaining range actually went up, to 249 km. It's a great example of how much terrain and regenerative braking matter.
On the highway: cruise control at 110 km/h
I left Ploiești at 12:20 with 251 km of estimated range based on recent driving (317 km maximum), planning the first stop in Adjud, about 220 km (137 miles) away. The navigation predicted I'd arrive with 12%. After the first 52 km, including the drive out of town, I was at 16.1 kWh/100 km with an outside temperature of 15°C (59°F).
On the highway I set cruise control to 110 km/h (68 mph). In real life you can't always hold a steady speed: trucks overtake each other and traffic keeps changing. At the Buzău exit consumption had reached 20.4 kWh/100 km at an average of 102 km/h. On the A7 between Buzău and Focșani I saw 19.4 kWh/100 km. At Focșani, 169 km after Ploiești, the average was 19.9 kWh/100 km at 92 km/h. One thing I really liked: the arrival battery estimate was spot on for the whole trip.
One stop: 26 minutes, from 8% to 70%
I reached Adjud at 15:12 after 2 hours and 36 minutes of driving, averaging 19.8 kWh/100 km at 83 km/h. The battery was down to 8%, or 38 km of range. I plugged in and went into the gas station for coffee and a short family break. When I came back 26 minutes later, the car was at 70%.
Honestly, I charged more than I needed. I got home at 18:13 with 33% left. With just 18–20 minutes of charging I would have arrived with about 5%, and then charged overnight at home.
The final numbers
- Ploiești to home: 392 km / 244 miles (about half highway, half two-lane road), 19.6 kWh/100 km
- Câmpina to home: 443 km / 275 miles, 19.1 kWh/100 km, average speed around 73–75 km/h including town traffic
- Charging: one stop, 26 minutes, from 8% to 70%
At 19.1 kWh/100 km, those 443 km work out to roughly 85 kWh, almost the whole battery. Officially, according to "Mercedes-Benz France", the EQE SUV 350 4MATIC has 90.56 kWh of usable battery capacity, 765 Nm (564 lb-ft) of torque, all-wheel drive and DC fast charging at up to 170 kW, with 10–80% in 32 minutes. AC charging is 11 kW as standard (22 kW optional). Combined WLTP consumption is 18.5–22.5 kWh/100 km and WLTP range is 469–568 km (291–353 miles), depending on equipment. My long-distance figures landed right inside the official range.
How it feels to drive
The software runs smoothly and responds quickly, and the car is very quiet and very comfortable. It's a Mercedes through and through. It's also agile and quite powerful, though you can't compare it with smaller cars of the same output: it weighs around 2,500–2,600 kg (officially 2,565 kg / 5,655 lb unladen, according to "Mercedes-Benz France").
What it means for drivers
The EQE 350 4MATIC SUV is for people who can afford a Mercedes and, ideally, live in a house where they can charge from rooftop solar. In that case, the fuel savings compared with a gas SUV of the same class are huge, and maintenance is much simpler. On a trip of more than 400 km (250 miles), a 20-minute coffee stop is enough. You get home, plug in, and the next morning the battery is full again, with no detours to the gas station. My advice: plan the trip with the car's own navigation, because the arrival battery estimate is very accurate, and don't charge longer than you actually need.
