5 High Tech Features On The 2024 Mercedes-AMG EQE SUV That You'll Either Love Or Hate
Electric vehicles may by their very nature seem futuristic, and yet you can't accuse Mercedes-AMG of not going the extra mile with the 2024 AMG EQE SUV. The first all-electric SUV to join the AMG line-up certainly isn't short on power, with ICE-embarrassing levels of torque and standard all-wheel drive helping it hit 0-60 mph in just 3.4 seconds. In the cabin, though, is where the new AMG feels particularly high-tech.
From the dashboard to the creature comforts — and even in how the AMG EQE SUV sounds — there's a lot here to set the speedy EV apart from other cars. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing, though, comes down to personal preference. Some of Mercedes' decisions seem stranger than others, after all.
Certainly, there's no denying that the AMG EQE SUV has what it takes to demonstrate electric performance vehicles are easily the equal of their gasoline predecessors. If you're considering spending upwards of $110,000 to put one on your driveway, however, there are some potential caveats to bear in mind.
Energizing Comfort and Cabin Fragrance
As standard, the AMG EQE SUV comes with dual-zone automatic climate control with integrated filtration. It can even combine GPS data with dual solar sensors, taking into account the angle of the sun hitting the cabin to adjust temperature proactively. Quad-zone climate control is an available upgrade for the electric SUV, but if you want truly granular control over your cabin experience, there's Energizing Comfort.
Pulling together climate control, ambient lighting, sound, seat heating, and — most controversially — cabin fragrance, Energizing Comfort offers different programs intended to energize, relax, or generally soothe your mood. The cabin fragrance part isn't exclusive to that system, mind. It can be switched on at a choice of intensities within the climate control menus.
Whether you will like that smell, as with any perfume, comes down to personal preference. Mercedes actually offers a number of interchangeable perfume atomizer flacons with different scents — everything from florals and citrus, through to woody and amber — that slot into the glove compartment.
Biometric Authentication
At a time when even the most humble Honda or Kia allows you to save your favorite seat settings, Mercedes had to go one step further with the AMG EQE SUV. Its driver profiles cover not just seat comfort but up to 800 different vehicle settings, including everything from your climate control and ambient lighting preferences through your radio presets and side mirror adjustments. The AMG EQE SUV can store up to seven such user profiles.
To restore them, drivers can press their fingertip against the AMG EQE SUV's biometric sensor. Like Touch ID on an iPhone or MacBook, this relies on fingerprint recognition to identify who's at the steering wheel and load up their favorite configuration. It'll even work across vehicles: if you have a few different, recent Mercedes cars in your garage, your driver profile can synchronize across them.
The downside, for some, will be Mercedes' data collection. For user profiles to work, you'll need a Mercedes me user account with a PIN code and to link your vehicle to that account. That might give data-cautious drivers pause, as will the need to register their fingerprint in order for the biometric sensor to work properly. If the latter is a dealbreaker, though, user accounts can also be loaded via the PIN code.
MBUX Hyperscreen
The move from physical controls to touchscreens has been underway in the car world for years now, but few displays turn heads quite like the MBUX Hyperscreen. Launched in 2021 on the then-new EQS electric sedan, the huge 17.7-inch OLED touchscreen is now available on several of the automaker's models. If you prefer the familiarity of physical knobs and buttons, Mercedes' decision to put the vast majority of its features with digital menus and widgets might present a significant learning curve.
Elsewhere in Mercedes' line-up, you can choose whether or not you want a Hyperscreen in your life. On the regular 2023 EQE SUV, for instance, the expansive touchscreen is an optional upgrade. As standard, the electric crossover comes with a more traditional — and, some might say, better — portrait aspect touchscreen hovering atop the dashboard.
The 2024 AMG EQE SUV, in contrast, gets the Hyperscreen as standard. There's no option for the regular touchscreen, which also means the 12.3-inch OLED display for the front passenger is fitted as standard, too. At least drivers won't have to worry about getting distracted by that since Mercedes has it set up to prevent whoever is at the steering wheel from seeing that passenger screen.
Sunroof Touch Slider
Calling out the AMG EQE SUV for putting so many of its controls within the MBUX Hyperscreen infotainment system and then criticizing the dedicated sunroof control might seem hypocritical. The problem is that those controls are arguably even more confusing. Particularly when you're reaching up to stab at the overhead console while trying to pay attention to the road because the sun is glaring through the sunroof on your expansive Hyperscreen.
Mercedes' decision — which you'll either think is ergonomic streamlining or needless reductionism — is to condense opening the sunroof, and the ventilation setting, and the sunblind, all into one touch-sensitive strip. In theory, a swipe across that starts the sunblind moving; a tap stops it. Swiping and holding opens or closes the sunroof itself; tilting it open is done with a brief press of the control panel.
All that sounds perfectly straightforward, up until you're trying to recall what to do for each setting while also driving and taking into account the momentary lag before the sunroof or blind starts moving. Factor in that it's easy to inadvertently press too hard when you're trying to swipe, and you might find yourself wishing for three separate controls.
AMG Sound Experience
For some, a performance car without a roaring V8 simply doesn't hit the spot. The AMG EQE SUV may — with 617+ horsepower on tap — be capable of shaming most gas-powered sports cars, but the inherent hush of an electric motor isn't to everyone's tastes. Then again, you might not be a fan of what AMG has added to address that.
The AMG Sound Experience is, effectively, an artificial soundscape intended to embody the idea of eager electric driving. Piped in through the standard Burmester 3D Surround Sound audio system, it's a collection of different electronic warbles and burbles that get more aggressive the more enthusiastically you drive. As standard, the AMG EQE SUV gets Balanced, Sport, and Powerful themes; the optional AMG Dynamic Plus package adds a Performance version, too.
You're either going to think the resulting soundtrack is dynamic and engaging or that it spoils one of the stealthy advantages of an EV. Think "ominous background hum of an alien-infested spacecraft in a Ridley Scott movie" and you're along the right lines, with the effect only escalating if you drive harder. Happily, you can switch between the soundscapes regardless of drive mode, including back to the most basic Balanced setting, though you'll need to do that each time you activate Sport or Sport+ modes.