AMG’s electric flagship, unabridged
The EQS53 makes 751bhp with the Race Start pack fitted, and it will still do 500km between charges.
There is no polite way to describe a 2.6-tonne electric saloon with 751bhp as sensible, and the EQS53 AMG does not ask you to. This is a car built on the premise that if the battery is going to be that large anyway, the motors may as well make use of it.
What surprises is how little of that effort is spent on noise. Mercedes offers a synthesised soundtrack and it is better than most, but the default setting is near silence, and the car is more impressive for it. Acceleration arrives as a shove rather than a crescendo.
How it drives
Rear-axle steering turns a car with a three-metre-plus wheelbase into something that can use a multi-storey car park without a three-point turn. Air suspension keeps the body flat without ever getting harsh, and the brake blending, historically the weak point of fast electric cars, is now hard to fault.
Where the money goes
The EQS53 is expensive even before COE, and the case for it rests on hardware that the standard EQS does not get.
- A second front motor and a reworked rear unit, taking combined output past 700bhp.
- AMG-specific air suspension tuning with an additional, firmer damper mode.
- Composite front brakes, with carbon-ceramics available at extra cost.
- A 400V architecture rated for 200kW DC charging, adding about 300km in a fifteen-minute stop.
Cabin and technology
The Hyperscreen dominates the dashboard and remains a mixed blessing: superb to look at, reflective in direct sun, and slower to operate than a physical climate control would be. Rear-seat space is enormous, and the low roofline costs less headroom than the silhouette suggests.
Conclusion
The EQS53 is excessive in the way AMG has always been excessive, and it wears it well. It is quieter, faster and more comfortable than any petrol AMG saloon has ever been, and it asks almost nothing of the driver in return.
Whether it is worth the premium over a standard EQS 450+ is a different question, and for most buyers the honest answer is no. That has never stopped anyone buying an AMG before.
