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Category: Highlight

  • 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV spy shots: Electric SUV to join S-Class family

    Mercedes-Benz is out testing a new member of its EQ family of battery-electric vehicles.

    It’s a crossover SUV to be called the EQS SUV, and it’s due on sale in 2022 likely as a 2023 model.

    As the name suggests, the EQS SUV will be a high-riding counterpart to the EQS sedan due in 2021 as a 2022 model. Both EQS models will form part of an expanded S-Class family. Smaller EQE and EQE SUV models are also coming. The EQE, a sedan, is also out testing.

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    These future EVs will be based on Mercedes’ first dedicated EV platform, known as EVA (Electric Vehicle Architecture). It’s the familiar skateboard design and in some models will potentially support a driving range higher than 400 miles.

    Previous Mercedes EVs such as the current EQC are all based on platforms originally developed for internal-combustion models, hence many of the packaging benefits of EVs couldn’t be fully realized. This won’t be the case for EVA-based models. For instance, the EQS and EQS SUV will rival mid-size models in exterior dimensions but should offer the interior space of full-size models.

    For future compact and small vehicles, Mercedes will develop a second dedicated EV platform, dubbed MMA. The first MMA-based vehicles will arrive around 2025.

    2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS prototype and Vision EQS concept

    2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS prototype and Vision EQS concept

    Styling for the EQS and this EQS SUV was previewed in 2019 with the Vision EQS concept car. The look is characterized by slim headlights whose lines flow into a sealed-off grille. In the case of the EQS SUV, the design appears closer in style and proportion to a minivan than an SUV, similar to the Tesla Model X against which it will compete. Other potential rivals include the upcoming BMW iNext and Cadillac Lyriq.

    In the United States, Mercedes was meant to kick off its EV transformation this year with the arrival of the EQC. The automaker has since confirmed that the EQS will be used to spearhead its EV plans in this market. It’s part of a new top-down approach announced by Ola Kaellenius, CEO of Mercedes parent company Daimler, in October.

    The EQS and this EQS SUV, along with the EQE and EQE SUV, are part of Mercedes’ plan to have 10 EVs in its lineup by the end of 2022. Others include EQA and EQB compact SUVs, and electric commercials like the eVito and eSprinter vans. An electric G-Class is also in the works. Some of these upcoming EVs will also have Mercedes-AMG and Maybach variants.

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  • Uber reportedly wants to offload self-driving division

    Uber is looking to sell its self-driving technology division known as Uber Advanced Technology Group, according to media reports.

    Citing three people familiar with the matter, TechCrunch reported last week that Uber is in talks to sell the Uber ATG division to Aurora Innovation, a much smaller rival in the self-driving technology space.

    Uber ATG as recently as 2019 received a $1 billion investment from a consortium of Japanese firms that included Toyota and automotive supplier Denso. At the time, Uber ATG was valued at $7.5 billion.

    But the division, which in 2018 saw one of its prototypes hit and kill a pedestrian, has been burning through cash as it seeks to develop a self-driving system, to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars, which could potentially be too costly for Uber as the ride-hailing giant continues to deal with the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic.

    As for Aurora, the company was established in 2016 with Chris Urmson, one of the early heads of the Google Self-Driving Car Project, now Waymo, among the co-founders. Another co-founder, Sterling Anderson, was in charge of development of Tesla’s Autopilot self-driving system before he quit to join Urmson at Aurora.

    While the company initially made headlines with deals with Volkswagen Group and Hyundai, things have been quiet recently and VW Group and Hyundai have since gone on to establish more substantial deals with rival self-driving technology companies Argo AI and Aptiv, respectively.

    Unlike Uber, Aurora doesn’t plan to offer a self-driving service. Instead the company wants to sell or license its self-driving system to other firms. As a result, any deal between Uber and Aurora could see Uber end up using a self-driving system from Aurora in the future.

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  • Mercedes G-Wagen Intruder is part G-Class, part SLK, all strange

    An unusual concept vehicle based on Mercedes-Benz G-Class running gear is currently up for sale in the United Kingdom. It’s the Intruder concept, a roadster-bodied G-Wagen built by now-defunct French firm Heuliez for the 1996 Paris International Motor Show.

    Founded in 1920 by Adolphe Heuliez, the company started out as a coachbuilder, but as that market dried up, it moved into specialist production for automakers, taking on small-batch projects like the Renault R5 Turbo and the folding-roof mechanism for the Peugeot 206 CC.

    The Intruder concept also took inspiration from the Mercedes-Benz SLK, which was revealed just four months before the off-roader at the 1996 Turin Motor Show. Like the SLK, the Intruder sported a folding-hardtop convertible body, but underneath was the chassis from a G320.

    Mercedes-Benz G-Class Intruder concept by Heuliez

    Mercedes-Benz G-Class Intruder concept by Heuliez

    Heuliez retained the G-Wagen’s inline-6 engine and four-wheel-drive system—complete with locking differentials. The roof took 30 seconds to lower, according to the listing over on Piston Heads.

    The listing also said the Intruder was subject to a 280,000 euro (approximately $330,000) restoration, including servicing of the engine and convertible-top mechanism, but did not say when that was done. The concept was originally shown in silver, but was repainted white and red at various points. It’s now back in the original silver, with just over 1,000 miles showing.

    The Intruder served as a prototype for a vehicle known as the OPAC Contender. Five of these were built, but as coupes, not convertibles. Heuliez itself disappeared in the early 2000s, as the specialist work it relied on dried up. The past two decades have been difficult for coachbuilders and automotive design houses; even legendary names like Bertone have dissappeared.

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