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Mercedes EQA: A luxury electric car for an urban driver
Summary
If you like driving yourself around, the new Mercedes EQA offers good looks, speed and comfort while navigating crowded city roadsEVs are the buzzword and, though adoption is slower than expected, we do see more of them on roads every day. They are practical as daily city runabouts and help achieve a green status. If you like to drive yourself and stamping your status is your thing, then Mercedes’ fourth EV, and their most affordable one, might just be the one for you.
Standing against the backdrop of the Rambagh Palace in Jaipur, the Mercedes EQA looks quite at home. It is the electric version of the GLA and shares a lot with the crossover. In terms of looks, it is quite similar, with the lovely flowing roofline and curvaceous styling. The front, however, is a differentiator, with the EV trademark LED light bar highlighting the 3D star-patterned area in place of the grille. It also wears a different pair of shoes—smart-looking 19" aerodynamic wheels, and there is a new bumper with the 3D LED tail lamps at the rear.
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While it looks similar to the GLA, it is longer and taller. The ground clearance is a little lower at 137mm, as it is an EV and the battery is packed under the floorboard. That number was reasonable enough to ensure the EQA didn’t scrape its belly on any of the speed breakers on our drive.
Going inside
Inside the cabin of the EQA, you get a sense of familiarity with the twin 10.25" screens, turbine-like vents with a rose gold outline, and the layered dash. What’s new is a star pattern insert on the passenger side, which looks quite cool when lit by ambient light. The seats have fabric made from recycled PET bottles, adding the environmentally friendly quotient.
The cabin feels premium and comes packed with features, like memory and massage functions for front seats, paddles for regen modes, capacitive steering controls, gesture control, 12-speaker Burmester system, heads-up display, panoramic sunroof, electric tailgates, and park assist. It has a wireless charger but no ventilated seats.
What’s really interesting and practical is the augmented reality navigation. This gives you a lovely view of the road via cameras, and the neat graphics pop up to provide you with more detailed instructions with road names and arrows, which become more prominent on the screen till you take the correct route. It’s handy when you reach bridges and flyovers and don’t know whether you have to go over or under or at confusing junctions. While the cabin has plenty of storage and is practical, the back seat space leaves you asking for more.
The leg room is tight, with the battery packed under the seats. You end up sitting in an almost squatting position, even a 5ft 4 inches tall person like me. The focus is really on the experience behind the wheel, which is, well, a class apart.
Strictly for drivers
As I leave the beautiful Rambagh Palace and head into the city, I focus on the performance. The EQA has 190hp of power and 385 Nm of torque and claims a 0-100 in 8.6 seconds. That may not seem fast on paper, but the instant torque delivery makes the compact EV feel zippy. Plunge your foot to the floor, and you get a nice shove back into the seat while the car propels itself forward rapidly.
Tucking in and out of traffic gaps on our way to the moonscape of the Kishangarh marble dumping yard from Jaipur, was a breeze. The car is perfectly sized for urban conditions.
With a hushed cabin, the whole experience lets you forget the traffic you are battling. There are four drive modes: comfort, eco, sport and individual. So, you can switch between extending your range to regular driving conditions to a nice, enthusiastic drive.
The hustle and bustle of the city fades as I hit the highway and then, of course, the question of range is on my mind. Mercedes claimed 560km, and you could get pretty close if you drove carefully. With me moving at my usual pace, I dropped about 25% battery in about 100km, which is quite good. If you can access DC chargers, you can charge 10-80% in just 35 minutes. So taking the EQA out of town would be easy, if you don’t have too much luggage. The boot is a little smaller than the GLA but has enough space for a couple of strolleys and you can flip and fold the seats to open more room.
The EQA munches miles on the highway with ease and makes the journey quite effortless. It’s a comfortable ride, cushioned and soft over bumps and potholes, at low speed. It firms up as you pick up the pace, keeping the car planted. That not only means a comfortable ride but also confidence behind the wheel.
Arriving at the dumpyard at Kishangarh is like landing on a lunar landscape with white all around. The only thing that gives it away are the azure water pools. The EQA conquered the rough road with aplomb, bringing me right down to the water’s edge, where I got out to take some incredible pictures and sum up the car in my head.
If there is one chink in its armour, it’s the backseat and boot space. So it’s not for those who are used to chauffeur-driven cars. This is a car that self-driving people will love. It’s smart-looking, hugely practical for urban conditions, has enough range, and will give you the luxury feel you desire from a Mercedes.
Renuka Kirpalani is consulting editor, Autocar India. Write to us at businessoflife@livemint.com
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