First Drive: 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQB

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If electric vehicles are ever going to gain widespread recognition as a legitimate option for the majority, we’ll need to see more of them in formats that serve everyday lifestyles. That means putting more EVs on the road that are right-sized for families, reasonably priced, have a serviceable range, and come in the same body styles that people already want to buy.

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Here’s the good news: on first impression, the Mercedes-Benz EQB is the first electric vehicle that could potentially check every one of those boxes. Only one other electric seven-seat SUV has been available to this point, that being the Tesla Model X, which is mostly right-sized but hardly attainable cost-wise. That makes the EQB a pioneer in a segment that’s been conspicuously devoid of options.

And here’s the maybe not-so-good news, with a twist: the EQB is a compact SUV through and through, with honest-to-goodness compact SUV proportions and capabilities. For Canada, this could be a very good thing. Apart from pick-up trucks, compact SUVs are far and away the most important sales segment in this country. However, what compact SUVs don’t often do well is hold seven seats. More on that in a minute.

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The EQB is based on a flexible platform that underpins several more Mercedes-Benz models globally, including the A-Class, B-Class, CLA, GLA, and GLB. Of these, the EQB is closest to the GLB in its proportions. There are a few differences such as the EQB’s four centimetres of extra length; and two centimetres less second-row headroom, but overall the dimensions are very similar. More importantly, the EQB retains a healthy 20 cm of ground clearance despite having its 66.5-kWh battery mounted to the underbody, an important figure for clearing Canadian snowbanks.

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That makes the primary difference between the two the EQB’s all-electric powertrain, and it’s an impressive one. The EQB 350 4MATIC is the version that will arrive in Canada first; it uses a pair of electric motors, one mounted on each axle, to create 215 kW of power (on a straight conversion, roughly 288 horsepower) and 383 lb-ft of torque, via electric all-wheel-drive.

For the EQB’s proportions, this setup performs beautifully. Power delivery through the single-speed transmission is exceptionally smooth, and it can be kept under control by selecting Comfort mode or the speed-limited Eco mode. A quick flip to Sport mode unlocks the potential of the electric powertrain’s instant acceleration. Combine it with the optional adaptive damping system and the low centre of gravity, and the EQB handles as well as any luxury compact SUV out there, if not better.

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It also provides plenty of feedback through the digital instrument cluster on how the driver’s behaviour is affecting the state of charge and use of the available range, showing real-time numbers on how much power the braking is regenerating and how much the driver adds to the range by using it effectively. (In Europe, the official range figure is 419 km; Canada’s testing takes our climate into account, so expect to see a lower number when the EQB launches in our market.)

Although tech innovation stops short of the MBUX hyperscreen seen in the flagship EQS sedan, the EQB does include some forward-thinking features. The on-board navigation system integrates public charging stations up to its peak rate of 100 kW into its route mapping anywhere in the world while including real-time information on charge port availability, pre-conditioning the battery on route, and calculating the minimum amount of charge time to reach your destination in the least amount of time possible based on weather, local topography, and your driving habits.

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On top of that, there are two features that make an impressive combination. One is an adaptive cruise control that can automatically adapt to meet the current speed limit (although this can only exactly match the speed limit and can’t be adjusted, which works extremely well on German roads but might be less than ideal on Canadian highways).

The other is an adjustable regenerative braking system, which has three manual modes to make the braking more or less aggressive. But the best option is the fourth mode, D Auto, which can be selected by holding down one of the paddle shifters for a couple of seconds. This lets the car adjust the regenerative braking on the fly to make the most of its current situation, meaning it will coast if the road is clear in front of you or crank up the resistance if you’re following slower traffic. Together, these features make the EQB as efficient as possible while requiring relatively little work from the driver.

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Now, back to that third row. Proportionally, the EQB is a compact SUV, and the third row is available as an option. The GLB also has an optional third row, as does the Volkswagen Tiguan, so if you’ve seen either of those up close then you have an idea of what’s happening inside the EQB. The downsides of it are that rear headroom isn’t suitable for most adults; the rear seats are not at all easy to access; and you lose 90 litres of cargo space versus leaving the third row out (1,710 litres behind the second row with five seats, versus 1,620 with seven).

Plus, although the EQB can technically accommodate four LATCH-equipped car seats with the third row installed, putting car seats in both second-row outboard positions makes accessing the third row impossible. And the third-row seatbacks are almost right up against the liftgate when they’re upright. As much as Mercedes has no doubt done plenty of research and assessment, I’m not sure I’d feel comfortable counting on putting young kids in those spots before seeing the results of independent crash testing.

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On the upside, though, Mercedes designers have managed to create a surprising amount of legroom in the back, and floor-mounted cupholders and storage cubbies integrated into the side panels make clever use of what little space there is. For drivers who have been waiting for a viable seven-seat EV, the EQB might not get them all the way there, but as the only option on the market right now apart from a Model X, it might be just functional enough to get some people over the line. More importantly, the GLB is extremely impressive as a compact two-row electric SUV, which is just as critical for making EVs a more widely appealing proposition. That said, in that regard, it has a fair bit more competition.

The one variable yet to be determined is where the EQB will land on price. What we do know is that the current plan is to offer the EQB 350 4MATIC first, offering traditional packages like Premium, Sport or Night Pack, and Intelligent Drive Pack – though a heat pump will be standard, which helps to extend electric range in cold climates like ours – and that a front-wheel-drive EQB 250 will follow at a later date. What we don’t know is even a ballpark on what overall pricing may look like, since no figures have yet been set in any market globally. That said, it’s a good bet that initial pricing will be above the minimum for both federal and provincial EV incentive programs. We’ll find out early next year, a couple of months ahead of the EQB’s Canadian arrival in the second quarter of 2022.