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A new luxury-electric-vehicle from Mercedes-Benz, touted as a “Tesla fighter,” beats out the high-end Model S from Tesla on two critical measures based on a road test, according to analysts at Swiss bank UBS.
Analysts led by Patrick Hummel concluded that the new luxury EQS from Mercedes beats out its rival from Tesla
TSLA,
in terms of range and efficiency, with a range of 300 km able to be reached with just 15 minutes of charging.
Their analysis is based on German magazine Auto Motor und Sport’s road test of the EQS on a drive from Munich to Berlin, in which the publication concluded that the EQS was “the best electric car in the world,” as translated by MarketWatch.
The EQS gets an average consumption of 15.8kWh per 100 km at autobahn highway speeds, according to UBS, “highlighting strong aerodynamics and powertrain efficiency.”
“While EQS falls short of Tesla’s acceleration and top speed, the high range and the overall luxury experience make the car a very strong competitor to Model S,” the analysts said in a note published on Tuesday.
The UBS analysts noted that the EQS’ commercial success could be so strong that it cannibalizes sales of the S Class, which provides Mercedes, owned by German auto giant Daimler
DAI,
with better profit margins.
The EQS is the newest all-electric luxury vehicle from Mercedes-Benz, which analysts at Deutsche Bank dubbed a “Tesla fighter” ahead of its launch in April, writing that it has the potential to improve the perception of the entire brand.
The car is Mercedes’ first on its new dedicated electric-vehicle architecture and has a range of up to 770 km (478 miles). That makes it the longest-range BEV on the market, according to Deutsche Bank analysts, with its only possible competitor having been the now-cancelled Plaid Plus upgraded version of Tesla’s Model S.
Daimler, like other European automobile makers, is leading a monumental shift to transition away from vehicles powered by internal combustion engines in favor of electric vehicles.
Europe became the world’s largest market for electric vehicles in 2020 amid a pedal-to-the-metal push to increase EV adoption, with severe fines for car makers whose fleets don’t meet new emissions targets and generous incentives for buyers to trade in their gas guzzlers.
The pivot toward electric vehicles in Europe has benefited domestic manufacturers and largely come at the expense of Tesla. Tesla’s delivery volumes in the 18 key European markets fell by 12% in 2020 from 2019 levels, according to data compiled from official sources by automotive analyst Matthias Schmidt.
According to Schmidt, who publishes the European Electric Car Report, this saw Tesla’s market share of the key European battery-electric-car market more than halve—from 31% in 2019 to 13.2% in 2020. Tesla controls 11.5% of the European market to Daimler’s 7.3% so far in 2021, according to Schmidt, with the American company led by Elon Musk expected to capture more market share as the year progresses.
