Mercedes-Benz believes its new EQS sedan will redefine the all-electric luxurious car phase because it competes in opposition to Tesla and a rising variety of rising start-ups and legacy automakers.

The 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS, unveiled Thursday, marks a brand new period for the German automaker because it pivots to EVs. The automotive might be a part of its giant S-Class automotive household when it arrives in U.S. showrooms within the fall.

“The EQS is designed to exceed the expectations of even our most discerning clients,” stated Mercedes-Benz and Daimler CEO Ola Kaellenius in a 63-page press launch for the automotive. “That is precisely what a Mercedes has to do to earn the letter ‘S’ in its identify. As a result of we do not award that letter flippantly.”

Most notably, the inside of the car seems to be like a cockpit out of a futuristic spacecraft greater than a automotive. It has screens throughout practically your entire dashboard of the car. In complete, it options three screens underneath a single 56-inch curved glass floor, together with a passenger display that won’t be seen to the driving force.

The automaker didn’t launch pricing for the EQS, nonetheless {industry} consultants count on it to simply high $100,000. The beginning value on the 2021 Mercedes-Benz S-Class ranges between $94,000 and $160,000. Its Mercedes-Maybach S fashions can high $200,000.

“They began on the high,” Jessica Caldwell, govt director of insights at Edmunds.com. “That is much like what we have seen with among the different automakers. It is their costliest car that’s going to come back out first.”

The value vary for Tesla’s Mannequin S giant sedan ranges from round $79,990 to $149,990, together with a brand new high-end efficiency mannequin, Mannequin S Plaid.

The inside of the EQS is actually the other of Tesla fashions that characteristic fashionable simplistic interiors. Some Tesla fashions have only one giant display within the heart of the instrument panel that controls practically all points of the car.

The EQS “goes to must have an indicator to face out. I believe giving people who very futuristic really feel that you simply’re really driving one thing totally different might be interesting for some patrons,” Caldwell stated. “However I believe the simplistic design for Tesla has made lots of people very comfortable.”

The outside of the EQS encompasses a comparable design to its conventional S-Class siblings, however a bit extra aggressive concerning the entrance of the car. A particular “Version One” unveiled by the corporate encompasses a two-tone black and silver paint job throughout your entire automotive.

The automotive is the primary EV on a brand new car platform for Mercedes-Benz. It additionally encompasses a contemporary technology of batteries with considerably greater power density, which permits for extra vary.

The primary fashions arriving to the U.S. will supply as much as 516 horsepower and 611 pound-foot of torque. The all-electric vary of the automobiles is predicted to be about 478 miles (770 kilometers).

For tech, the car encompasses a suite of security and comfort options, together with a brand new driver-assist system that may management the velocity and braking of the car in addition to help in different capabilities reminiscent of switching lanes or retaining the automotive in its lane. The system is extra driver-controlled than different programs from Tesla and General Motors.

The EQS additionally will embody an obtainable augmented actuality system, together with head-up show, that tasks three-dimensional graphics reminiscent of arrows onto the screens to point out drivers the place to go.

The EQS is a part of Mercedes-Benz’s “Ambition 2039” initiative that features greater than half the automobiles it sells to characteristic electrical drive programs, together with absolutely electrical automobiles and plug-in hybrids.

Mercedes-Benz is in a race with different legacy automakers to launch new EVs to meet up with industry-leader Tesla, which accounted for a majority of all-electric gross sales within the U.S. They’re additionally anticipating a number of latest rivals such as Lucid, which plans to launch a luxurious EV later this yr.

“I believe Mercedes Benz goes to do an awesome job on EVs,” stated Brian Moody, govt editor at Autotrader. He stated they need to be a formidable competitor to Tesla, which he attributes to essentially exhibiting the auto {industry} “what individuals really wished in the case of electrical automobiles.”

“They did not need some financial system field,” he stated. “They need a efficiency automotive, with plenty of luxurious and so they’ll pay for it.”