Mercedes EQS: A review of the luxury electric vehicle

Yahoo Finance's Pras Subramanian discusses the new Mercedes EQS luxury electric vehicle and its features.

Video Transcript

- OK. And so within EVs right now, you've got this super high-cost, high-value-- I mean, you were able to sit in the MercedesEQ 3 over the weekend. And then you've got that mass market kind of entry point that some of the manufacturers are trying to give, right? We've actually got the video of that EQ3.

- That's Pras's car. Congrats, Pras.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah. Well, tell us about that experience, too, number one, and then-- and exactly where you see some of these high-cost, high-value plays netting out. Yeah, Brad. I was in the EQS, the Mercedes--

- EQS.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah.

- OK, my bad.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: The top-of-the-line Mercedes electric vehicle. It's going to be a whole new EQ platform they're building all their cars on. This is the most-- this is the biggest one, the big daddy, if you will, all the-- all the tech in there. And I got to say, just real-- my initial thoughts are, at this level, you sit in that car-- and Brad, you were inside that car, too. It is like you're stepping into the future, right?

- Yeah.

- The huge hyperscreen all the way across the dash. The car is super quiet. It rides on air suspension, immediate power, immediate torque. It's just a smooth-- you know, [? Saz, ?] I know you love the EVs. But it's a different experience.

- Well, oddly-- I've told you this before. I don't like the design.

- Well, it's a different experience because you have carmakers that happen to make electric vehicles versus an electric vehicle maker that's a computer on wheels when you're talking about something like a Tesla. It's just a different experience, right? I'm curious. When you talk about the EV penetration, what happens to that number if you put hybrids on top of it? Because I imagine that boosts the number quite a bit.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Oh, yeah, big time. I mean, the biggest-- the highest-selling hybrid is the Jeep 4xe hybrid. And that's sold-- that was like tens of thousands of cars last year. So you add that into the mix, you're going to pump up that. I would say, if you add hybrids, I mean, maybe back of the hand math, 15%, 20% maybe.

I mean, this-- hybrids are a huge part of the market. And people love them. So that's absolutely right. I think that's kind of the right way to look at it-- is like, we're transitioning into the full EV, potentially, in 10, 15 years. And hybrids are sort of a big step in the middle.

- Bridge step, yeah.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah, exactly.

- Is charging infrastructure ramping quickly enough to really support some of the demand?

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: I don't think so, Brad. I think there's a long way to go with the charging infrastructure, at least in New York City and the East Coast. Maybe it's different in the West Coast. But out here, it seems it's impossible to find-- I went to Woodbury Common last weekend with this car as a test. And I went to-- there's, you know, maybe 20 EVgo Chargers. They were all full of Teslas. So good luck.

- No space for you.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: No space.

- What did you do?

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: I was iced out.

- Were you stuck?

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: No. Well, this car has around 400 miles of range. So I didn't actually have to charge. I wanted to just to top off a little bit.

- It was more for research, yes.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yes, research.

- If you get stuck in your various EV tests, you give me a call, Pras. I'll come in my gas-guzzling '91 Trans-Am. I'll pick you up. I got you.

- I thought you had like a portable charger you could come too with.

- No, just give me a call. I got you. I got you.

- All right. Thanks so much, Pras. Appreciate it.