Mercedes-Benzs launched their quickly expanding all-electric EQ sub-brand with the EQS sedan, arguably the first EV to come from an established brand that truly delivered the flagship luxury sedan experience. Well, it’s time now to determine if this midsize EQE sedan can deliver the same experience for the rest of us.

Making a fully electric luxury flagship sedan is easy when money is no object, and Mercedes sure created a great one with last year’s EQS. Bringing that excellence down to a lower price point is much more difficult; but Mercedes wasted no time undertaking it with this midsize 2023 Mercedes-EQE.

The interior is not quite to EQS levels of sophistication, but still glorious to look at and with all the ambient lighting, almost as high-tech feeling.

While the EQS’ wide Hyperscreen dash is available, a more traditional setup is standard with the central control panel housing a 12.8-inch OLED touchscreen, with a tablet style 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster mounted upright behind the steering wheel. The MBUX interface is similar and responds quickly, with most functions easy to find. Standard navigation with Electric Intelligence will plan the most efficient route, or one with charging stations if necessary.

Whether you stick with the standard MB-Tex upholstery or upgrade to real leather, the feel is luxurious throughout. Front seats are very comfortable, as are the rear seats with plenty of legroom. A large panoramic roof and a premium Burmester sound system are standard.

Regen braking has three levels right up to full 1-pedal driving, plus an auto setting which never seemed to give the feedback we were looking for. Overall, the EQE was very solid feeling on the road, behaving more like a typical Mercedes-Benz sedan than an electric car. The only detractor from the experience was a very thick sloping A-pillar which seemed to be in our line of sight more than we’d like.

On to more specific powertrain details. A base 350+ features a single rear motor rated at 288-horsepower and 305-miles of range from a 90.6-kWh battery. An additional motor can be added up front for 4MATIC all-wheel drive both in 350 form, and this top of the line 500 4MATIC which cranks out 402-horsepower from 300kWs worth of dual-motors. No official range figure for the 500 yet, but our car indicated as many as 263-miles available, though based on our driving loop, around 220 seems much more realistic.

Off to Mason Dixon Dragway to see how that 400-plus horsepower translates to acceleration times.

While there was enough oomph off the line to press us back in the seat a bit, it felt mostly smooth for a somewhat soft launch. There are plenty of unique hyperdrive-like sounds to go along with the very quick 4.0-second trip to 60 miles-per-hour. According to Mercedes, torque delivery is checked 10,000-times per minute, distributing power to front and rear motors, according to traction, way faster than is possible with any mechanical system. Power stayed pretty consistent until just before the end of the ¼-mile, where it tapered off slightly as we finished in 12.6-seconds at 108 miles-per-hour.

In our handling course, the EQE delivered a very unique experience as its optional rear axle steering provides an extreme 10-degrees of turning, which translated to very little input needed to the steering wheel to change direction quickly. And while that hyper responsiveness took some getting used to, the minimal body roll and overall well-balanced nature were much appreciated. And needless to say, whipping in and out of parking spots is a breeze.

While the EQE shares the same basic one-bow, cab-forward shape of the EQS, the smaller size makes for a bit less of an elegant profile. Still very futuristic looking however, with a smooth face and wheelbase stretched to the max. Pricing starts at $76,050 for the rear-drive 350+, with the top 500 4MATIC beginning at $87,050.

While it doesn’t have quite the presence or panache of the full-size EQS, the 2023 Mercedes-EQE Sedan does a great job of bringing plenty of the flagship flair down to a more attainable level. Making it not only a great luxury sedan, but an even better EV.

General Motors may have slowed their EV plans a bit, but they’re still committed to an all-electric future and have many full battery-powered options to choose from across multiple brands, the latest of which is this Chevrolet Equinox EV. Now, it’s nothing at all like the gas-fueled Equinox we’re all familiar with. So, let’s find out if batteries are better.

General Motors has made the biggest EV push out of all the big three American carmakers, coming up with the dedicated Ultium platform that now underpins a host of trucks and SUVs throughout their brands, and even Honda has made use of it. GM’s latest Ultium-based EV uses a familiar name, the Chevrolet Equinox EV. And not to worry, this is not a replacement for the gas-powered Equinox, just a parallel path for those more comfortable joining the EV world with a familiar name.

And like its counterpart, the Equinox EV comes standard with front-wheel drive, rated for as many as 319 miles from its 213-horsepower motor and 85-kWh battery pack. Adding a rear motor for all-wheel drive boosts output to 288 horsepower and 333 lb-ft of torque, but drops range to 285 miles for our ’24 test vehicle, though ‘25s get a bump up to 307 miles.

Though even our ‘24 AWD appears capable of well over 300 miles as we were on pace for 329 miles in our driving loop. 150 kW max charging speed delivers some 77 miles for every 10 minutes on charge. And using 35 kWh of electricity per 100 miles earns the Equinox EV a good efficiency rating.

Much like every other Ultium-based vehicle we’ve been in, Equinox EV’s ride quality is quite pleasant. But where it really stands out is in exterior design. Available in both LT and RS families, the Equinox EV is easily the sportiest-looking Ultium vehicle we’ve seen yet. Its long 116.3-inch wheelbase is 8.8 inches longer than the ICE Equinox. As with many EVs, there’s lots of active LED lighting elements; plus, flush door handles and smooth body panels to help aero efficiency.

Of course, the dedicated EV platform allows for a very spacious feel inside, with plenty of room for five adults and 26.4 cu.-ft. of cargo space in back; folding rear seatbacks leads to max of 57.2 cu.-ft. An AutoSense liftgate is available for hands-free operation.

2RS comes with some very nice cloth heated seats that Chevy calls Evotex; but more impressive is the 17.7-inch widescreen infotainment setup. In addition to looking great, it responds quickly to inputs, is Google-based, and features EV-specific route planning through the MyChevrolet App. There are multiple settings for regen braking, including two for one-pedal driving; plus, there’s a regen-on-demand paddle behind the steering wheel that works like a hand brake.

There was enough torque here in our all-wheel-drive tester to spin up the tires a bit at launch, and when it did hook up, it left the line with a decent amount of thrust. Enough to get to 60 in 6.1 seconds, almost 3 seconds quicker than we got in the ICE Equinox just a few months ago. The power flow stayed consistent the whole way down the track, with no major upticks or drop-offs throughout the 14.9-second quarter-mile, finished at 91 mph.

It felt equally smooth and steady through our handling course, very little body roll and quick steering added a playfulness to the process that made the Equinox feel smaller than it is. Results were very consistent in our 60-0 panic braking test. A short 116-foot average, stops were smooth and straight.

‘24s are still available, with prices starting at $43,295 for a 2LT, but a base 1LT that goes for just $34,995 arrives for ’25; adding all-wheel drive is a pretty steep $3,300 increase.

The Chevrolet Equinox EV is an incredibly nice SUV regardless of what’s under the hood. GM has certainly built some impressive EVs recently, but delivering a family friendly EV with this much range for this low of a price is probably their most impressive feat yet. That’s why it earned our recent MotorWeek Drivers’ Choice Award for Best of the Year, and why you should have it on your list if a sensible EV purchase is in your future.