Mercedes EQS challenges Tesla Model S with full-width interior screens

Mercedes-Benz will give the coming EQS full-electric luxury sedan, its Tesla Model S rival, a nearly full-width dashboard screen panel, with a screen in front of the passenger as well as a central and instrument panel screen.

The EQS, the first Mercedes to be built on a dedicated electric-vehicle platform, will debut on April 15. The Daimler brand released images of the EQS interior on Monday. 

Mercedes calls the layout MBUX Hyperscreen. The three screens are placed side-by-side under a single scratch-resistant glass panel that is 141 cm (55 inches) wide. The central screen is 17.7 inches wide and the two flanking screens are 12.3 inches wide.

The EQS interior differs from the Model S in its extensive use of screen space. The Model S interior, revised this year, has a large rectangular central screen as well as a separate smaller instrument panel, as well as a controversial yoke-style steering wheel.

Mercedes has also created a new interior scent for the EQS, which it calls No. 6 Mood Linen and describes as "carried by the green note of a fig lying on a piece of linen." 

The MBUX (for Mercedes-Benz User Experience) Hyperscreen, available on higher-trim EQS models, has haptic (vibrations and pulse) touch feedback. Users can change menu levels or activate other functions through different touch pressures via a metallized foam embedded into the screens.

The passenger screen can be personalized with seven individual profiles. Mercedes says entertainment content is dependent on local regulations.

Mercedes says it has put in place safeguards to prevent the driver from becoming distracted by content on the passenger screen. The screen is automatically dimmed if a camera detects that the driver is looking toward it, and if there is no passenger the screen becomes a "digital decorative image."

Other safety measures include images that rotate counterclockwise, nearly imperceptibly, to reduce eyestrain, and the upper part of the windshield is tinted to reduce glare. The displays are bonded directly to the glass to avoid reflection. In the event of a crash the screen panel will deform "in a controlled manner," Mercedes says.

Standard EQS models will have a 12.3 inch instrument panel and 12.8 inch central screen only.

In addition to the scent, which Mercedes has used on earlier S-Class models, the EQS has a number of "soundscapes," including Silver Waves and Vivid Flux, and three can be selected during rest stops to promote napping. 

The EQS will be produced alongside the new S-Class at the Daimler factory in Sindelfinger, Germany. It will be underpinned by a platform dedicated to battery-electric vehicles called EVA2, with three more models scheduled on the platform: An EQE smaller sedan and SUV versions of the EQS and EQE.

Mercedes has said the EQS will travel more than 700 km (435 miles) on a single charge, based on the WLTP testing cycle.

It was first shown as a concept at the Frankfurt auto show in 2019.