Mercedes-Benz’s Alabama operation is preparing to take the automaker’s concept of the ultra-luxury automobile to an electrifying new level, with the upcoming production launch of the 2024 Mercedes-Maybach EQS 680 sport utility.
Mercedes debuted the head-turning vehicle this week, saying “the Mercedes-Maybach EQS SUV sets the new benchmark in the all-electric top-end luxury SUV segment” in an announcement. The model is loaded with lavish appointments and creature comforts such as a “cocooning” rear seat environment.
The Mercedes-Maybach EQS SUV will be assembled at the automaker’s 6 million-square-foot production complex in Tuscaloosa County, where workers already build the Mercedes-Maybach GLS 600 sport utility.
The batteries powering the new EV will come from the Mercedes battery plant in Bibb County, located just minutes away from the assembly plant.
“Mercedes-Maybach customers expect the extraordinary, and we aim to exceed their high expectations,” Ola Källenius, chairman of the Board of Management Mercedes-Benz Group AG. “The Mercedes‑Maybach EQS SUV unites our ambition to lead in digital and electric with our focus on the luxury segment.
“The very first all-electric vehicle from Mercedes-Maybach complements the best technologies from Mercedes‑Benz with the extra comfort and individual details that are only available from Mercedes‑Maybach,” he added.
Production trials of the new vehicle are now under way at Mercedes’ assembly plant, with full production expected to begin later this year.
For more than 25 years, Mercedes’ Alabama workers have produced luxury vehicles for drivers worldwide, and their successful track record speaks for itself, said Greg Canfield, Secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce.
“The company continues to place enormous trust in the skill and craftsmanship of its Alabama workforce, and the Mercedes-Maybach EQS SUV will become the latest in a long line of winners emerging from the Alabama operation,” Secretary Canfield said.
Mercedes said the new vehicle is based on the technology of the EQS SUV, now produced at the Tuscaloosa County plant, and combines it with the exclusivity of the Maybach brand.
The Mercedes-Maybach EQS 680 SUV’s two electric motors combine to produce 649 horsepower, capable of accelerating from zero to 60 mph in 4.1 seconds, according to auto media reports.
Range is expected to be around 285 to 300 miles of driving per charge. Charging time at a DC fast-charging station is rated to be 31 minutes.
“Our customers can look forward to an absolutely top-class electric driving experience — with the aura of the extraordinary that is typical of Maybach,” said Daniel Lescow, head of the Mercedes-Maybach line.
Pricing has not been announced.
SUSTAINABILITY
The automaker said the Mercedes-Maybach EV combines luxury with sustainability.
A number of parts and components in the Mercedes-Maybach EQS SUV are made from recycled materials. It’s also the first model from Mercedes-Benz to be fitted with vegetable-tanned leather, with coffee bean shells used as tanning agents.
Added to this is the net carbon-neutral production of the Mercedes-Maybach EQS SUV and its battery at the Alabama Mercedes plants.
Mercedes aims to at least halve CO₂ emissions per passenger car in the new vehicle fleet over the entire life cycle by the end of this decade compared to 2020 levels. From 2039, the new car and van fleet should be net carbon-neutral over their life cycle and the entire value chain, the automaker said.
Mercedes has invested over $7 billion in its Alabama operation, which employs 6,300 team members.
Besides the Mercedes-Maybach GLS SUV, the automaker’s Alabama plant today produces the GLE and GLS sport utilities, the GLE Coupé crossover and the all-electric EQS and EQE sport utilities. The plant began EV production last year.
