Mercedes

Luxury car brands pole-vaulted into the modern EV game early, Mercedes-Benz with its EQC, Audi with the e-tron and BMW with the i3. But they’re still to make a significant impact in popular, high-volume segments like small SUVs, which is where the Mercedes-Benz EQA comes in. Its compact size, prompt performance, reasonable range and circa-$80,000 entry price have helped make it the top-selling Benz EV in Australia at present. We’re testing the twin-motor Mercedes-Benz EQA 350 to find out if it's worth $20K more than the popular single-motor EQA 250.

There's no such thing as an affordable EV in Australia at present, but slide into the luxury car world and things don't look so exorbitant, comparatively speaking.

The 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQA range starts at $82,300 plus on-road costs for the single-motor EQA 250, but here we’re testing the higher-spec EQA 350 which gets dual motors, more equipment and starts from $102,579 plus ORCs.

EV rivals in the small SUV arena include the BMW iX1 (from $84,900), Lexus UX 300e (from $74,000), Genesis GV60 (from $103,700) and the impressive Volvo XC40 Recharge (from $73,990).

Mercedes-Benz covers the EQA 350 with a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty, while the battery – arguably the most expensive and important part of the vehicle – is covered for eight years or 160,000km.

Service intervals are set at 12 months/25,000km, which isn't too bad, although some EVs have 24-month intervals. Owners can choose one of three capped-price service plans: three years/75,000km ($1600), four years/100,000km ($2200) or five years/125,000km ($2650).

Now the flagship model, the 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQA 350 has a sportier look to match its upgraded powertrain, riding on multi-spoke 20-inch alloy wheels that look great but are a pain to clean while declaring its performance intent via an AMG Line Sports body kit.

It also gets adaptive dampers so you can choose between cushy or sporty suspension and the athletic theme continues through the interior with heated and power-adjustable sports seats finished in an artificial suede and leather combo – or Dinamica microfibre and black Artico in Benz-speak.

There's seemingly kilometres of red stitching to make things feel special, along with a superb flat-bottom steering wheel and even AMG pedals.

Standard equipment such as twin digital screens – 10.25 inches apiece – and an excellent voice command system lend the car a high-tech feel, while automatic climate control, a wireless phone charger, keyless entry, a powered tailgate and panoramic glass sunroof make it a pleasant place to hang out with lots of convenient features.

You can spend a lot more cash on options, such as black AMG leather seat upholstery ($1700) and a Mercedes-Benz wallbox charger ($1709) that we’d certainly recommend.

Of the nine exterior colours available only Night Black and Polar White are no-cost options, with the metallic colours (Cosmos Black, Denim Blue, Rose Gold, Mountain Grey, Iridium Silver, Digital White) adding $1490.

A special ‘Designo’ paint, dubbed Mountain Grey magno, can also be yours for $3300.

The 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQA 350 has nine airbags designed to protect front and rear (outboard) passengers and a range of driver assistance features to reduce the chances of a collision occurring in the first place, such as autonomous emergency braking (AEB), lane keep assist, lane departure warning and blind spot monitoring.

The nuggety little German also comes with adaptive cruise control featuring stop-and-go functionality and traffic sign recognition with route-based speed adjustment.

A parking assistant will also park the car if you don't want to.

The EQA has a five-star safety rating from independent vehicle safety authority ANCAP, but curiously the rating is based on the testing of its ‘partner’ model, the Mercedes-Benz B-Class, in 2019.

Apart from its silent, zero-emissions dual-motor powertrain, there's plenty of cool tech in the 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQA 350, starting with the twin 10.25-inch digital screens.

Both screens afford a high level of customisability – class-leading, I would argue – while the ‘Hey Mercedes’ voice command system likewise has plenty of depth and functionality.

Telling the car to open the sun blind or change the cabin temperature is quick and easy (and fun), but you can even say "Take me to the nearest charging station" and the nav figures it out and will project directions onto the excellent head-up display.

The AI-driven voice command and MBUX system has been around for a few years but it's still one of the best systems out there.

The 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQA 350 differs from its 250 sibling in that it has better equipment levels but also much more oomph from its dual-motor powertrain.

The twin motors crank out 215kW of power and 520Nm of torque combined, which is significantly more than the EQA 250's 140kW/375kW.

Mercedes claims a 6.0-second 0-100km/h sprint and the EQA 350 certainly feels that quick, blasting off the line with intensity.

An asynchronous electric motor drives the front wheels while a permanent magnet synchronous motor lives on the rear axle. The vehicle defaults to rear-drive to save energy when cruising.

The claimed driving range for the 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQA 350 is 408km (WLTP), which is not too shabby considering its 66.5kWh lithium-ion battery pack.

The lower-output EQA 250 is good for 426km using the same battery pack.

On our test, we managed around 300km with about five per cent charge left – so around 315km on a full charge, give or take.

Total energy consumption was 20.9kWh/100km, which isn't amazing for a car of this size but it involved a fair bit of traffic light tango time at full throttle.

Even so, a 400km range sounds like a stretch.

Charging the EQA is simple – plug it into a regular 220V three-pin household power point with the provided cable and you’ll wait around 25 hours for battery to charge. A 22kW charger will take around four hours, while the highest recharging rate is 100kW DC, which will take half an hour to go from 10 to 80 per cent charge.

It should be noted that some EVs, such as the Hyundai IONIQ 5 and IONIQ 6 and Porsche Taycan, can recharge at up to 350kW, the EQA's legacy platform architecture tech hurting it in this respect.

Most buyers of a vehicle like the 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQA 350 probably won't be too concerned with dynamic performance, and in this respect expectations were low.

After all, it's a relatively heavy EV based on an ageing internal combustion engine (ICE) platform shared with small cars like the A-Class and GLA-Class.

But like ordering a lamington and getting black forest gateau with salted caramel ganache, the EQA 350 is quite the surprise package.

Flick the drive mode selector to ‘dynamic’ and it acquits itself neatly when turning, delivering reassuring levels of grip and cornering response, the sort that might prompt drivers to have a little fun.

It's not going to match a Mercedes-AMG A 45 S on a sinuous stretch of road, but it's pretty nifty through roundabouts in the ’burbs and can hold a reasonable line through sweeping corners at speed.

Flatten the accelerator pedal and you’ll experience genuine pace in a straight line, the twin motors propelling the almost-silent but hefty 2091kg EV from standstill to triple-digit speeds very rapidly.

It always gives you a modest push into your seat as 520Nm of torque pummel the four driving wheels almost instantaneously.

Choose the ‘comfort’ drive mode and things settle down rather nicely, the adaptive dampers delivering improved bump absorption, in turn tangibly improving ride comfort.

It's a great urban runabout, mild-mannered when you need it be, yet harbours superhero-like power, which is a nice feeling to have.

Time spent inside the 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQA 350 is generally very pleasant thanks to sound ergonomics, intuitive user interfaces and luxurious finishes.

The elevated seating position makes ingress and egress easy and also provides an ample view of surroundings and all the controls are thoughtfully positioned so you don't have to stretch too far.

In fact, the voice control system works so well you’ll rarely have to push too many buttons or cycle through the countless touch-screen menus.

There's also an abundance of high-performance touches – the flat-bottom multi-function steering wheel, AMG foot pedals, nicely-contoured power-adjustable sports seats and exposed crimson stitching throughout the cabin – that blend well with high-quality materials to create a comfortable but vibrant interior.

It should also be mentioned there's a ‘weird mild massage system’ to quote my review notes, which adjusts the lumbar cushion positions ever so slightly. It's actually rather nice.

The black and silver motif in the cabin looks good, the air vents look great and have a high quality as does most of the switchgear and moving parts, such as the butterfly-opening central storage area and the sliding cup holder shell.

Twin 10.25-inch digital screens living behind one very long pane of glass will make glaziers across the country drool, as will the powered panoramic glass roof.

Back seat room is a little tight but that's to be expected for a small SUV and boot space ain't bad considering the double-decker battery tucked under the floor, with 340 litres enough for two large suitcases, roughly quadrupling in size (to 1320 litres) with the rear seats folded.

If you’re looking for a small luxury EV that's well-equipped and has seriously impressive muscle flexion, the 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQA 350 will be worth a test drive, no question.

But if grin-inducing acceleration doesn't interest you and you don't necessarily require a panoramic glass roof or a flat-bottom steering wheel, the EQA 250 should fit the bill quite nicely.

The extra $20,000 it costs to upgrade from the EQA 250 to the EQA 350 feels a tad excessive, but ultimately the twin-motor flagship is a charming EV that only adds to the EQA's already popular status with Aussie buyers.

2023 Mercedes-Benz EQA 350 4MATIC at a glance: Price: $102,579 (plus on-road costs)Available: NowPowertrain: Front asynchronous and rear permanent magnet synchronous motorsOutput: 212kW/520NmTransmission: Single-speed reduction gearBattery: 66.5kWh lithium-ionRange: 408km (WLTP)Energy consumption: 16.3kWh/100km (WLTP)Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP 2019)

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