Is Mercedes Benz EQB 350 a Missed Opportunity?

When you see a Mercedes Benz arrive, EQB or not, it should engender a sense of majesty and magnificence. Entering it should make you feel as if a power-wigged flunky has served a G and T and finger sandwiches on a silver tray.

EQB is a repurposed GLB. There are 66.5kg battery that charges at up to 100kw, drive modes, and an interior coping with up to 7 passengers. Can a 7-seater really claim to be a compact SUV? Mercedes says yes.

Outside, the GLB-like visage has an electrified EQB makeover.

The nip and tuck gives the EQB a solid nose and a slinkier set of LED headlights. Alloys add a smidge of bling, and there are big, generously proportioned portals for the ingress of mere mortals. Mercedes Benz says the EQB is “structurally similar to the GLB, but to me they look the same, and that’s that.

It has a Fort Knox-like feel of sturdiness about the lines, and the fixtures all look like they’ll outlast time. Like most modern cars, they just don’t have that Chanel-esque desire about them.

Inside the EQB has had everything thrown at it.

By night, the theme lighting is something you’d sell tickets to. The glittery dash panel extends with flashes of light out and along the doors. Unlike the pov 250 model, the 350 4Matic has nicer seats and extra touches including AMG mats. Our car didn’t have powered seats, and we had to contend with knobs and levers. That is utterly unforgivable in a steed costing over 100k.

Although lacking in powered adjustment, our car had heated and cooled front seats. A hot day left us panting, and welcome wafts of cooling breeze up the Khyber took the edge off. Direct heating and cooling is by far, the best way of controlling the temperamental nuances of the human body.

Mercedes have long cruised to the strains of a Burmeister, and your tunes can stream via CarPlay, wirelessly. Unlike another Germans, Mercedes isn’t going to gouge owners by renting them their Carplay, heated seats, and heated steering wheel. For now, that is included in the sale price.

Back seats take max advantage of a flat(ish) floor, and seats can be origamied into places that allow the carriage of bikes and other bulky bits. No surprise, golf clubs fit with ease.

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The Drive.

Like most EVs, the EQB sprints with unexpected grace. Steering is ludicrously light, and changes with the whim of the driver’s mode choice.

There is 400km shown as the range in the dashboard indicator. The official figure is a little lower, and once underway those figures head south rapidly. We confined our tests strictly to city duty, just the way an owner would. There were airport runs, grocery shops, and a run to outer Sydney for a pie-n-pea lunch. The average punter does 50km a day, and a week in the EQB saw us consume less than 300km of electrical loveliness.

The 6.2 second 0-100km seems somewhat of a shock, but on the freeway, it converts to a smooth carpet-like experience.

You’re more likely to drive your EQB to the airport, and dump it for a week at the carpark, than drive it any distance. That’s just the way it is and it is rather a shame.

On the open road, the driver and safety aids take over. EQB is ladled to the brim with goodies of the technical variety. Their fettling can be a little bewildering with buttons and menus all over the place. While ‘Hey Mercedes” voice control works surprisingly well, anything with a button, switch, or track pad, can be a challenge. For example, there is a large pad on the centre console that is frequently brushed by errant gestures. There are 2 more mini pads in the steering wheel, with the same issue. In the bin with them all.

Australian drivers will be driven potty by the right-hand column-mounted gear lever too. You’ll find yourself out of gear, a lot.

In short, EQB has the full complement of driver and safety aids, and enough convenience features to keep most people happy. Having said that, EQB doesn’t have the feel of luxury I’d normally expect in a Mercedes benz.

The Mercedes Waft

There have been comments about the ride and handling, and not all of them positive. Even though i found the EQB to have more than enough wafty Merc loveliness, a 600 Grosser, EQB is not.

Nonetheless, it handles nicely, especially in sports mode. Pressed into enthusiastic corners, the EQB is more agile than it has any right to be. It goes all sporty, flirting with bends like a 60’s sports car on cliff-top roads in the Med.

If you squint, there is more than a little evil-bond-villain about an EQB, especially in black. Is it silent, fast, spacious, and can accommodate any number of large cases of small arms, golf clubs, and any other dictatorial accoutrement.

In closing:

The EQB doesn’t quite have the deluxe ambience of the opposition, whether it is the other Germans, or the posh cars from the UK. I don’t think we can consider the Americans to have the ability to create a true luxury conveyance, so we’ll leave them out of the malee for now. EQB needs more range, faster charging, and a nicer feel to the cabin. It isn’t something you can put a finger on, but there is a sense that corners have been cut in order to put a battery under the floor.

Price: $106,700