Our AMG's interior was pure opulence, a match for any gas-fired S-class's rich passenger space. They're both dearly priced, but these EV supersedans are as different as Silicon Valley and Stuttgart. Tested: Mercedes-AMG EQS Hits Hard but Rides Soft.Tested: Tesla Model S Plaid Is Absurdly Quick.2022 Car and Driver EV of the Year Contenders. Whether it's the EQS's weird-science shape or its Mercedes face, it gets noticed-especially by other EV drivers juicing up at our local charging station. Our test car had a handful of options including carbon-ceramic brakes on the front axle ($5450), those great-looking wheels ($1850), and laminated side glass ($1010), which brought the total to $159,055. Credit the Benz's careful exterior detailing, blacked-out trim, optional 22-inch turbine-style wheels, and the large three-pointed star in its blanked-off pseudo-grille. The EQS looks like a giant lozenge with windows, but it also has a presence the Tesla lacks. With luxury playing an equal part, this competition becomes significantly more balanced. We're looking for the overall best electric luxury-performance sedan, which makes this a multi-dimensional comparison of attributes-ambiance, posh appointments, and comfort, as well as over-the-road competence and driving satisfaction. But we're not just out to destroy quarter-miles here. The numbers say that the EQS doesn't stand a chance in a drag race. The AMG also weighs 5911 pounds-1083 pounds more than the Model S. The AMG's 107.8-kWh battery pack teams with two permanent-magnet synchronous motors to produce a maximum of 751 horsepower and 752 pound-feet of torque-and only for brief seconds during launch-control starts-far less than the tri-motor Tesla's totals. The AMG-ized version of the EQS sedan seems at first to be too lightly armed for the task. But how does this latest mega-muscle Model S-Tesla introduced the Plaid in 2021-fare against a Mercedes-Benz EQS 580 reworked by the German company's vaunted AMG performance division? A Model S Performance beat a Porsche Taycan in a comparison test a couple of years ago. The Mercedes-AMG EQS 4Matic+ sedan is one of those challengers. It is the ultimate, unhinged expression of Tesla's-and its equally unhinged CEO's-desire to keep the company's aging luxury-performance flagship sedan relevant as new EV competitors arrive to stalk it. The Model S Plaid scrambles your senses with 1020 horsepower and 1050 pound-feet of torque. Is this what Navy pilots feel when catapulted off a carrier? Maybe, but this much is for sure: It doesn't get old. We repeated that maneuver several times in the name of science to confirm that our senses weren't lying. Try a standing start in the Plaid's Drag Strip mode, and it hurls itself off the line so ferociously you'll experience tunnel vision. It's like getting an instant facelift, but one that lasts for only a few seconds. Mash the Tesla Model S Plaid's accelerator at 20 mph and the burst of power hits so hard it pulls the skin on your face taut.
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