Tesla Model S vs BMW i5 vs Mercedes-AMG EQE Review | Which premium electric saloon car is best?
welcome to a Parker Group test of three of the finest executive EVS on sale today in the black Corner we have the BMW I5 M60 in the blue corner it's the Tesla Model S plaid and in the gray corner it's the Mercedes AMG eqe 53 now all these cars are designed to carry their occupants in Comfort style and refinement and all absolutely packed with technology and in the case of the ones that we've got here today performance as well absolutely inter find out which one is best we're going to do individual sections on performance practicality Comfort technology and even value for money and at the end of that we're going to come up with a proper first second and third place verdict no messing around now if you're feeling generous please feel free to hit the Subscribe button and turn your notifications on so you can keep up with what we're doing on the channel and if you want to learn more about the cars head over to parkers.co.uk where we've got detailed reviews on all of them but right now let's get on with the video let's do [Music] it we'll start with what the cars are like to drive and more specifically the self-proclaimed ultimate driving machine the BMW I5 is the newest car on this test and it has a lot to live up to given it's the first all electric equivalent of BMW's famous 5 series model line you see thousands of the petrol and Diesel versions on the road so should the I5 prove as popular well in a word yes there's been a lot of controversy recently about BMW styling but I'll let you make your own minds up about that because you know you can see the car but what I can tell you is that the Driving Experience of this car is very very good indeed especially the powertrain you can get the I5 with a single motor delivering 340 horsepower to the rear wheels only that's badge the e Drive 40 but what we've got here is the dual motor 601 horsepower M60 version with all-wheel drive despite weighing in at 2.4 tons it is very quick off the line 0 to 62 mph is 3.8 seconds which is awfully fast but it's actually the slowest car to 62 on this test although the straight line speed oh definitely is not to be sniffed at however once you get into a corner that's where the I5 really stands out the I5 handles its weight really well the steering is nice and precise and well weighted and it helps make the car feel agile When You Reach Corners which is pretty impressive considering just how big it actually is and that's no doubt helped by the standard fit on the M60 version rear wheel steering you can also get optional active anti-roll bars but then I don't think they're strictly necessary for the Driving Experience even if they perhaps are a nice to have interestingly though if you want the sweetest handling I5 then I reckon it's not the performance version this the M60 that you want because the e Drive 40 is a bit better it's lighter it's rear wheeel drive so it's just got a bit more well sense of fun to it feels a bit lighter on its toes and as we know BMW are very good at making rear wheeel drive Saloon cars they've got a great pedigree in [Music] that the i5s ride Comfort is on the fir side especially with the 21in wheels but it feels well controlled and consistent it's also super quiet at a cruise and even lets you drive along a Motorway with no hands on the wheel provided you've got the adaptive cruise control with Highway assist system activated and the local traffic laws allow our main criticism of the Driving Experience though is well it's just how big this thing is and that might seem unfair but it's 3 cm wider and 10 cm longer than the previous 5 series and that wasn't a small car and it means that when you're trying to thread it through the city or on narrow Country Roads yeah it's a big old bus doesn't feel it when you're going quick but then going through gaps yeah it does takes some getting used to that's for sure BMW I5 done it's time to check out what the Mercedes AMG EQ e53 has to offer the all electric equivalent to the hugely popular Mercedes-Benz E-class it also has a lot to live up to and aims to Major on technology and comfort let's let see if that Rings true first things first I just want to highlight one thing that may seem obvious but also might seem a bit confusing is this is obviously the eqe but it's not to be confused with the eqe SUV which has obviously got a very similar name so this is the eqe saloon want to get that out of the way and compared with the BMW First Impressions indicate that there's one big similarity and also one very clear difference the similarity is that this thing feels huge I think we're seeing a common theme in this test but even with the optional rear wheel steering it's a big old thing although that does help the Turning Circle A Lot the big difference though is how it deals with its weight this is about 2.6 tons very heavy and it doesn't deal with it as convincingly as the BMW in this the steering isn't as polished it isn't as direct doesn't feel as confidence inspiring in the BMW it's just really nice and quite natural actually all things considered and also the control going through corners the BMW is good fun I wouldn't say this is fun it's very solid safe but I don't think you're going to have a good time driving it also the ride comfort in this it's very softly sprung and that can be good in certain situations but in others not so much so when you've got a really smooth piece of road feels the business but then it can get a bit wallowy which can make you feel a bit sick and also going over some bumps feels like it's been caught out a bit I mean let's go over here yeah big bang I don't know if you heard that but the refinement really suffers and you really feel it jutter into the cabin the BMW is more firmly sprung but it's also better controlled now even with the air suspension I don't think this is As relaxing an experience as you get in the I5 and something else I've noticed that isn't so much not relaxing but it is a bit strange is the brake pedal there's quite a lot of travel before it does anything it's a really weird feel I don't know if it's just this particular model or this particular car but take some getting used to the eqe 5 3 is however very fast and quicker than the BMW to 62 it's the same twin motor setup as the BMW with one on the front axle and one on the rear but power is up to 625 horsepower or 686 horsepower with the dynamic Plus Package spec and that does make an appreciable difference when you put your foot [Music] [Applause] down however when it comes to outright speed then the the model S plaid is something else entirely as you're about to see adding the fact that it gives owners access to the best charging Network in the country and you can see why it's still a hugely compelling choice that said it's not perfect now it's been a good few years since Tesla burst onto the scene with the model S so they've had plenty of time to get it right and there are plenty of really impressive things about how this car drives for starters the speed of this plaid version all the cars on this test are quick but this thing is in another League let's just put it in the correct mode there we go and oh wow honestly incredible over 1,000 brake horsepower 0 to 62 mph in 2 seconds it's astonishing I mean it does zero to 100 mph in about 4 and 1/2 seconds doesn't matter what you come up against Ferraris Lamborghinis Maserati doesn't matter this thing on the road it will accelerate faster and that's a scary thought but it's not just about the shear speed because the powertrain is very very good across the board it's super smooth it's really easy to modulate and even when you just want a little burst of speed it's excellent as well this has got to be one of the finest EV powertrains that you can buy today for any [Applause] money it's not just the speed that's impressive either at a cruise the model S is very quiet and refined and if you start to throw it around a little bit there's plenty of grip and incredible outright traction from the all-wheel drive system what's more the ride is nicely judged and refinement is also impressive also full access to the T Tesla charging network is worth its weight in gold not just because of the speed of the charges but also how well placed they are throughout the country however there are some very significant issues with this car that you simply cannot ignore the first is the fact that it's leftand drive only which again you know it's not an issue in America or a lot of other markets but over here in the United Kingdom where we're doing this test that's a big problem and it's one that doesn't fect any of its Rivals you can of course get the Mercedes and the BMW in right hand drive also the indicators are ridiculous if I'm being honest they're on the steering wheel they're haptic feedback buttons and it just does not work as well as a traditional stalk there's an overreliance on the touchs screen so that key safety features such as the fog lights are in touchscreen menu so that's not great and I've also noticed that on the motorway the steering is way too sensitive it's fine when you're go in quickly through corners but if you're going at 70 mph and you just want to have a nice relaxed steering yeah it's too fidgety youve got to make too many Corrections it's a shame as the model S has done many of the difficult things very well indeed but then for whatever reason it's been let down by what should be straightforward elements the indicators and leftand drive part being two prime [Music] examples I do understand why Tesla tries to do things differently to other car makers because that's how they made their name and in a lot of ways they've done that very well but it does feel that with this car and with some of the features such as the indicators and such as the way that they've not bothered to make it as a right-and drive model they're taking things a bit far and it's a shame because it is not spoiling but it's seriously impacting what is actually in some way ways and in many ways a very good car luckily though the Driving Experience is helped hugely by that fabulous powertrain it really is amazing and also we can't forget the charging Network we're going to speak about charging in a minute but Tesla's supercharger network is phenomenal so those are two huge plus points it's just a shame that they are offset against some kind of silly details that do make a big difference before we move on to the interior section we're just going to do a quick run through of the respective range and charging of each vehicle on test because let's face it that sort of thing is very important so the BMW we've got claims up to 320 M of range from its 81.2 kwh battery the Mercedes is up to 290 M of range from its 90.6 kwh battery and
the Tesla is 373 mi from what we believe is around a 95 K battery thus meaning the Tesla has the best claimed range and we can confirm that we've seen it reading over 340 mi in the real world charging speeds for each car vary but the bottom line is that a 20 to 80% charge at a powerful rapid charger is dispatched in around 30 minutes realistically for each car right now to hand over to Luke who's going to take a look at each car's interior starting with the Mercedes so the Mercedes eqes interior does some things well and other things not so well we'll start with good namely the sheer amount of technology in here I mean it's like a branch of curries you up for Mercedes optional hypers screen entertainment system and you get a screen in front of the driver a screen in the middle of the dashboard for your media and nav functions and then another screen on the passenger side of the dash that lets whoever's sitting there watch films as you drive along I mean it's all deeply impressive stuff but I think it's bordering on access Ive this Tech doesn't come cheap either at the time of recording MKS hypers screen was a £990 optional extra on the eqe but if you're a proper technofile you might be able to justify the spend it net you whopping 55 in worth of screen an augmented reality Head Up Display and a fingerprint scanner that automatically loads your preferences for the car when you touch it [Music] clever the eqe interior is great overall but it's not perfect I mean there are a few squeaks in the dashboard and the buttons that you regularly interact with such as those on the center console and those on the steering wheel are a little bit flimsy which if you're anything like me is going to annoy you no end it's especially enough when you consider this particular AMG eqe cost £114,000 I mean in my book it's just not worth it the Tesla Model S is 10 years old now which is positively ancient in new car terms I mean most car manufacturers replace their cars when they hit seven so the fact that Tesla's kept this around for so long is Testament to its popularity however and I can't believe I'm saying this in a car that has what's basically a TV screen on its dashboard it looks quite dated when you compare it to the I5 and the eqe in a way that's strange because the Tesla Model S is arguably the car that sparked the current trend for manufacturers to design their Interiors around their infotainment systems it's only in the past couple of years that BMW and Mercedes has started to ditch physical climate control panels but everything on the Tesla has been controlled by the central screen ever since it was first launched in 2012 this is either going to Delight or frustrate you depending on the sort of person that you are it really annoys me but thankfully tesa's entertainment system is good enough to soften the blow it's a lot like an iPad I mean the menus are quite similar the icons are the same and that means it's really familiar which means it's not intimidating to use when you're on the road there's an elephant to address however build quality this has long been Tesla's ail's heel but what's particularly strange is that it differs from from car to car we've tested a few Model S's now and their Interiors have range from perfectly passable to downright offensive this is one of the better ones but even so the quality can't match that of its German Rivals I mean it's just made from cheaper materials and I mean listen to this it's just rubbish and we'll end with what I think is the best car here the I5 when you step into it the first thing that strikes is the build quality I mean it's very much like a miniature i7 and it makes the eqe and the Tesla Model S feel a bit shony in comparison I mean there's not a single creaky trim or Wiggly switch inside it's been assembled beautifully dport has two displays there's a 12.3in digital gauge panel and a 14.9 in infotainment system both mounted on one enormous piece of curved glass both screens are incredibly high definition and most importantly they're good at withstanding bright sunlight the driver display is a bit chaotic but the graphics are really sharp and it's very configurable so you can put your nav on there you can have your safety kit on there or you can have like a twin dial aping setup like you get in a normal car which is probably the screen I'd stick with if it was mine I'm a little less ke on the i5s infotainment screen simply because BMW has piled every single one of the cars interior functions onto it climate controls driver assistance Tech Drive modes the lot even the air vents are open and closed with touch sensitive sliders which just feels like tech for the sake of tech to me but this is a problem that's shared by all three cars happily BMW made the icons on the screen quite big which means it's easier to hit them when you're bouncing Down a Bumpy B Road and if you don't want to use the touch screen at all you don't have to because you can control the entire screen from this dial here which is just great it means you don't need to spend as much time staring at the screen when you're driving which is just way safer so the BMW gets the award for best interior experience for those in the front but but what about those in the back back here in the Tesla it's an absolute sea of white and black it's like sitting on a piano and I almost feel like I blend in a little bit but there's some really good features here so for example we've got a very large screen where you can control the climate and you can also watch things like Netflix on there which is a nice touch couple of USBC ports as well the big panoramic roof that's fantastic for light in the back bit disappointing that there's no pocket on the back of the seat and I reckon the foot room underneath the seat is a bit pinched but overall space loads of knee room head room is pretty good as well good Elbow Room and if you're sitting in the middle there's no big lumps so you haven't got any kind of impinged foot space so it's actually really good back here I'm impressed sitting in the back of the BMW and I don't think it's quite as spacious as the Tesla and that could be because the panoramic roof isn't as long in the BMW it's still a very good size but the Teslas comes further back so that might make it feel a bit less Airy but in general think there's a bit less Elbow Room knee room is pretty good there's actually a bit more room to slide your feet underneath the seat but just overall there is a bigger sense of airiness in the Tesla than the BMW I've also noticed that there's more USBC points and the climate screen is a lot more basic but it does the job very well but the most crucial thing is that there is a big Central tunnel and that's because this car shares its platform with the petrol and Diesel 5 Series so it still needs that big tunnel there and that's a big problem if you're sitting in the middle so that's where the Tesla has a big Advantage otherwise I think it's fairly close but yeah the Tesla's definitely superior to the I5 in terms of rear seat practicality so in the back of the Mercedes AMG and there's some good points and some bad points compared with the other cars now for starters you can probably see it's very dark in here it's quite gloomy and also the windows they feel quite small so that could be a bit of a problem knee room and leg room though is very very good I have got tons and tons of room here and headro well it's fine if I sit a little bit tilted to the right but then if I'm anywhere to the left or even in the center actually I can feel that headlining impinging there and you've got the panoramic roof which is nice but it's definitely affecting the Headroom so that could be better the climate control display and controls is similar to the BMW but it's nowhere near as high quality to look at or touch that feels a bit cheap and flimsy you've got two USBC points hidden beneath that that folds down and then there's almost no Central tunnel but it's not quite as good as the Tesla because there is a little bit of a lifted area there but it's a lot better if you're sitting in the middle than it is in the BMW as for the boot space the Tesla Model S has a distinct advantage over its Rivals see whereas the BMW and Mercedes-Benz don't have any additional luggage room under the Bonnet the Tesla has an extra 89 L add that to the 709 L of boot space with all five seat in place and it dwarfs the BMW's 490 and the merc's 430 L boot therefore when it comes to practicality it's a clear win for the Tesla but before we make our final verdict on which car wins overall please allow Luke to take you through the finance details for each car prices for the BMW I5 start from around £74,000 for that you get the most basic e Drive 401 model which has an 81.2 KW battery pack a single electric motor on the rear axle with 340 horsepower and a maximum range of 357 mil which isn't bad at all the most basic trim you can get on the electric 5 series is BMW's slightly racy M Sports spec which has 19-in allo Wheels LED headlights heated front seats and slightly lowered sport suspension if you step up to the M60 model like this one is here and it's it's basically the electric equivalent of the M5 you'll be paying about £100,000 which is an awful lot of money for a 5 series but still it has 600 horsepower two electric motors 20in allo Wheels a slightly ratier body kit and a posh bars and wiin stereo system which works really well the Mercedes eqe is a little bit cheaper than the I5 prices start from around £68,000 for the eqe 300 sport edition model that one has an 89 Kow battery pack and a maximum range of almost 380 Mi but its electric motor is a lot less powerful it's only got 245 horsepower so it's not as quick but equipment levels are compartible between the two cars so uh the eqe comes with 19 in Alloys LED headlights synthetic leather upholstery and heated seat if you want this one though which is the AMG eqe 53 model that'll set you back almost £5,000 naturally because it's an AMG you get much quicker 625 horsepower power Trin and loads of extra equipment such as LED headlights 21in alloy wheels air suspension and rear wheel steering the Tes is a little bit trickier because it's already on the back foot in this company CU you can't have it in right hand drive Tesla only makes the SN the X now in left hand drive for the UK Market which is a distinct disadvantage it gets worse when you consider the price so the most basic dual motor model starts from around £80,000 which is a lot when you compare it to the I5 and the eqe and it gets worse if you want to get this one which is the model S plaid this one starts at around £100,000 which is again an awful lot of money it makes up it slightly by having so much power I mean it's got 1,20 horsepower so it's easily the fastest car here but it's also the oldest I mean this first went on sale more than a decade ago so you need to pick what you want do you want speed or do you want the latest tech so three very capable electric cars with three very large price tags none of them are perfect but we can agree on a winner the eqe comes third in this test largely because the drive lets it down against the Tesla and BMW and it doesn't convincingly outperform either in any other category the Tesla meanwhile has a brilliant powertrain practicality and charging Network yet there's elements of the ergonomics and therefore the drive that we simply cannot forgive therefore the BMW narrowly takes the win it's good across the board and it does have the best cabin mind you if it was us we'd be picking the cheaper e Drive 40 version over the more powerful M60 do you agree with our verdict let us know in the comments section below and if you enjoyed this comparison please make sure sure you subscribe to the Parker channnel and turn your notifications on so that you never miss another [Music] video
2024-03-17 14:51
