Mercedes-Benz’s new electric car has the world’s coolest front grille

Mercedes-Benz has a new vision for the electric car, and involves fragrance flasks and 3D LED light arrays. 

The Mercedes-Benz Vision EQS, a new concept car unveiled on Tuesday at the International Motor Show in Frankfurt, is the company’s idea of what a luxury electric sedan should look like. And though it’s just a concept, meaning it will never be available for purchase in its current form, the company has gone quite far with the touches of luxury, sometimes to the point of silliness. 

First, the technical details. The Vision EQS has more than 350 kW (469 hp) of output power and a fully variable all-wheel drive. It goes from 0-100km/h in less than 4.5 seconds, has a top speed of over 200 km/h, and comes with a 100 kWh battery that provides a whopping 700 km (435 miles) of range and charges at 350 kW. In short, while it’s not faster than a Tesla Model S, it has a bigger battery, more range, and charges faster — though these numbers would be far more meaningful if we were talking about an actual production vehicle. 

And although the car is driver-focused, the company claims it’ll have Level 3 driving autonomy — which, again, means very little in the context of a concept car, but it least it doesn’t sound unattainable given the current level of progress when it comes to self-driving cars. 

That’s all good, but things start to get really interesting when we look at car’s design. For example, the car’s grille — which is not actually a grille — consists of a light matrix with 188 circuit boards and 940 individual LEDs, arranged in a 3D space, giving the entire system an element of depth. You can see it in action at around 0:42 in the promo video, below. 

On the inside, the car is designed to resemble a luxury yacht. Since Mercedes-Benz wants to make this car truly sustainable, the plastic in the interior is recycled, and the leather is artificial (the feel is similar to nappa leather, the company says).

And then there are some truly bonkers details, like the speaker covers in rose gold, and, I quote, “the fragrance flask encased in a decorative holder like a jewel.” I’m not sure about you, but I’m never again buying a car without a built-in fragrance flask. 

The most interesting part of the interior, unfortunately, comes with few details; according to Mercedes-Benz, “digital content can be immersively experienced over the entire area.” Looking at the photos provided by the company, I’m not entirely sure how that would work, but it definitely sounds cool.  

Mercedes-Benz did not share a timeline for launching the actual EQS, that is, the car that will be based on this concept. The car maker launched its first electric crossover, the EQC, in May, and it said it plans to bring 10 all-electric cars to market by 2022.