Mercedes-Benz to offer eight electric vehicles in Australia this year

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As the latest fully electric Mercedes-Benz – the EQE sedan – hits showrooms, it’s getting hard to keep up with the proliferation of EVs now in the luxury brand’s portfolio.

It’s all happened so very quickly. Its first EV, the EQC medium SUV, only launched at the very end of 2019. 

By the close of 2023, Benz will have eight full electric models in showrooms, most with numerous variants and grades.

To keep you up to speed, the line-up is the EQA small SUV; EQB medium SUV (with seven-seat option); EQC medium SUV; EQE large SUV; EQS upper-large SUV; EQV seven-seat people mover and the two sedans – EQE and EQS.

Old foe BMW also boasts an ever-swelling EV portfolio, but with its i4, i7, iX, iX1 and iX3, the line-up can’t quite match Benz’s bounty.

Do Benz customers want this many EVs?

“The beauty of our EQ electric range is there’s something for all of our current ICE (internal combustion engine) buyers,” Mercedes-Benz Australia spokesman Jerry Stamoulis told Chasing Cars.

It only takes a quick visit to Benz’s website to prove his point. Well almost. Benz has no SL-like EV roadster, no EV cabriolet and no entry-level A-Class-like EV in sedan or hatch guise. No electric G-Class (G Wagon) either… at least for now.

Even before its electric EQ range landed, Benz showrooms were already loaded with vehicle choices, the brand proving it had become a master of niche-filling. Witness coupe-style SUVs as prime examples.

But Mr Stamoulis said when customers go to a Mercedes-Benz showroom there must be, as a prestige brand, the luxury of choice. “You’ll always find a customer who wants something we don’t have, no matter what. It may sound surprising, but it does happen.

“They can choose from a wide variety of models, and pick the one that suits their needs and wants. If it’s a luxury, large SUV with performance, we have something for them.” That’ll be the $300,000+ AMG GLS 63 that somehow hauls its mighty bulk to 100km/h in only 4.2 seconds.

When asked if the massive Mercedes range, now added to with so many EVs, is actually confusing and overwhelming for customers, Mr Stamoulis insisted not.

“We’ve never had the problem where someone said you’re confusing me with too many cars,” he said. “Offering them is part of our overall luxury experience.”

Mercedes-Benz Australia offering its new Digital Showroom is a smart way for customers to view models that perhaps aren’t in their closest dealership.

But is Benz offering the right EVs?

The cheapest EV Benz offers is the EQA250. From $81,700 plus on-road costs, that makes it very hard to keep under the threshold to qualify for EV rebates. 

Arguably, this is not a priority for luxury brands, and the argument they’ll put forward is their pricier EVs still qualify for the likes of tax breaks and registration discounts. 

So which EVs are Australian Benz buyers most interested in? “In the space we’re playing in Australia, electric vehicles are fairly new,” said Mr Stamoulis. “We’re still seeing what people want, and we can be nimble, we can change.”

He adds that, at the moment, EQA was the brand’s strongest selling electric vehicle. “But it will be the EQE SUV when it arrives later in 2023,” he said. “We’re confident of that, based on the feedback we’re getting from customers and the dealer network.”

When the EQE SUV arrives, the five-seat SUV’s expected price tag should be around $150,000 for the EQE 300, or some $15,000 more than its sedan equivalent.

“It will definitely outsell the EQE sedan. We need to get the specification and the price right, and we’re confident it will do very well.”

The EQE SUV’s all-electric range, due to its boxier shape, won’t match the sleeker EQE sedan’s. But that will apparently matter little to the SUV-obsessed Australian buyer.

“The maximum (EV driving) range isn’t always the number one priority from our customers’ point of view,” said Mr Stamoulis. 

“It comes down to how often you can charge. We know our customers are charging at home or work, that’s their preference. If you’re charging regularly, they’ll take the large (SUV) body style over range. That’s the mentality.”

In short, much like Benz’s petrols and diesels, it’ll be electric SUV which dominate the sales charts.