Konrad Adenauer, one of the first prominent Mercedes users of the post-war period, once campaigned with the slogan: “No experiments”. In the up-and-coming Federal Republic, the black W 186 was quickly associated with the first Federal Chancellor – popularly known as the Adenauer limousine. Today, no one would advertise with the sole promise of reliability, even though the core of the next generation of the E-Class is based on proven values. This is associated with a certain risk, especially in the drive area.
Evolution im Design
Visually, the model change is a gentle evolution at best. The design does not break radically with its predecessor, rather it is a continuation of what Mercedes already has on the market with the C and S class. You can find this conservatism discouraging to boring, but you should keep in mind that most buyers in this segment are not looking for exciting shapes. In addition, a design that can be called benevolently timeless does not age quite as quickly. To a certain extent, Mercedes is going in the opposite direction of BMW. There, provocation is obviously the chosen means of customer retention, as the current 7 Series impressively shows.
Superscreen
Mercedes also avoids a drastic upheaval in the interior. The first pictures show the dashboard with an optional “Superscreen”, which consists of three screens. The instrument cluster has been slightly enlarged, which can be overlooked given the growth of the monitor in the middle. The screen in front of the passenger is brand new. In the electric models, all of this costs a lot more, and in the E-Class it will hardly be any different. If the surcharge is similarly high here, the display landscape will probably only be used to a very limited extent.
(Image: Mercedes)
Never without a combustion engine
Internally, the E-Class has tough competition, especially in the drive area, due to the similarly sized EQE. Because no E-Class is delivered without a combustion engine. In the medium term, we expect at least two petrol engines (E 200 and E 300) and three diesel engines (E 220 d, E 300 d and E 400 d) on the German market, all of which will have a mild hybrid option. A starter generator with 48 volts is intended to support the combustion engine. There are also two plug-in hybrids (E 300 e and E 400 e) and later at least one AMG offshoot.
Plug-in hybrids charge faster than before
With the plug-in hybrids, Mercedes is now also raising the E-Class to the level that the PHEV models of the C- and S-Class have been offering for some time. Compared to the drive in the previous E-Class, this means major progress in two areas. The battery has 25.4 kWh, which should enable an electric range of up to 115 km. That is significantly more than before. An E 300 e that we drove in early 2021 had only 13.5 kWh. Above all, the charging capacity increases significantly. In the E-Class, the maximum was previously achieved at 7.2 kW of alternating current. In the future, 11 kW in three phases and up to 60 kW in direct current (DC) will be possible on the AC side. The battery is thus charged much faster than before.
(Image: Mercedes)
The system output is 230 kW (E 300 e) or 280 kW (E 400 e). If you want to drive the plug-in hybrid in the E-Class mostly electrically anyway, you can save the surcharge for the more powerful model, because the electric motor has an output of 95 kW in both. The system performance is scaled via the two-liter four-cylinder. A plug-in hybrid with a diesel engine could follow a little later. The PHEV customer still has to live with a drastic reduction in the trunk: instead of 540 as with the combustion engines, only 370 liters can be loaded here.
No level 3 (yet).
Mercedes itself sees the heart of the brand united in the E-Class, and in fact this model series has long stood for what it wanted to convey as an image to the outside world. Times are not getting any easier for the E-Class, because some of the optional luxury that it can be enriched with was already available for the current model and does not differentiate it from the EQE. Massage seats, cameras for video conferences or outstanding voice control are nothing that would only come onto the market with the E-Class. Processing and material selection should be first class, any hint of cost optimization in the visible area would further reduce the chances of the E-Class. The most astonishing thing is that the E-Class cannot drive to Level 3 in a highly automated manner right from the start. Pretty sure that will be submitted quickly, because Mercedes will want to spread the enormous development costs as widely as possible. In Germany, since January 2023, up to 130 km/h have been permitted in partial autonomy.
“You know me”
In the end, it remains the conservative answer, a kind of “you know me” that narrowly missed out on an absolute majority on the political stage ten years ago. It will be interesting to see how often the question is asked afterwards. Mercedes hopes to continue to be successful in the previous main sales markets for the E-Class. These include China and Korea. The station wagon, which is so important for the market in Western Europe, will follow in autumn at the latest. In addition, there is the CLE, which is intended to collect the previous customers of the CLS, C and E-Class Coupé. It is currently unclear what Mercedes will require for the E-Class in the future. The base price for the sedan was recently 51,319 euros. A hefty surcharge can be expected. In this respect, too, the brand remains true to itself.
also read
(mfz)
