ANCAP has announced a five-star safety rating for the electric Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV, following testing of left-hand drive models by Euro NCAP against the latest 2023 to 2025 criteria. The rating applies to all variants except for the AMG EQE 53 4MATIC+ SUV.
ADULT OCCUPANT PROTECTION
The EQE SUV’s passenger compartment remained stable in the frontal offset (MPDB) test. Protection of the driver chest and lower legs was adequate, with good protection offered to all other body regions. Protection was also good for all body regions of the front passenger. The front structure presented a moderate risk to occupants of an oncoming vehicle in the MPDB test (which evaluates vehicle-to-vehicle compatibility), and a 4.20-point penalty (out of eight points) was applied.
In the full width frontal test, protection was adequate for the chest of the driver and the rear passenger, with good protection of all other critical body areas.
In the side impact test, protection offered to all critical body regions was good, while in the oblique pole test, chest protection was adequate. Protection of all other critical body areas was rated good.
The EQE SUV is equipped with a centre airbag to protect against occupant-to-occupant interaction in side impacts and it provided protection for the head of both front seat occupants. However, additional information to demonstrate that the performance was robust for a range of occupant sizes was not provided, so no points were awarded in this area of assessment. Prevention of excursion (movement towards the other side of the vehicle) in the far side impact tests was assessed as good for the vehicle-to-vehicle impact scenario, and adequate in the vehicle-to-pole scenario.
A rescue sheet providing information for first responders in the event of a crash is available, and a multi-collision braking system is fitted. It was demonstrated that if the car entered water, the doors would remain functional for the minimum required time period, though window opening functionality was not demonstrated.
CHILD OCCUPANT PROTECTION
In the frontal offset and side impact tests, protection of the 10-year and six-year dummies was good and maximum points were scored in these tests.
The EQE SUV is fitted with lower ISOFix anchorages on the rear outboard seats and top tether anchorages for all rear seating positions.
An indirect child presence detection system, which provides an alert when a child may have been left in the vehicle, is fitted to all rear passenger seats as standard.
Installation of typical child restraints available in Australia showed that all of the selected child restraints could be accommodated in each of the rear seating positions, and full points were scored for this assessment.
VULNERABLE ROAD USER PROTECTION
The bonnet provided good or adequate protection to the head of a struck pedestrian over most of its surface. Marginal and poor results were recorded at the base of the windscreen, on the stiff windscreen pillars, and along the front of the bonnet.
Protection of the pelvis was mixed, with areas of good and poor performance, while protection of the femurs was mostly good. Protection of the lower legs was good.
The autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system is capable of detecting and reacting to vulnerable road users such as pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists. Testing of this system showed adequate performance in pedestrian test scenarios, which includes reverse (AEB back over) and turning scenarios, with collisions avoided or mitigated in most tests.
Good performance was seen in cyclist test scenarios with collisions avoided or mitigated at most test speeds, including turning scenarios. The EQE SUV is fitted with a system to warn against door opening if a cyclist is approaching from behind.
Good performance was seen in the AEB and lane support system (LSS) motorcyclist tests, including the turning and overtaking scenarios.
SAFETY ASSIST
In addition to AEB and LSS (with lane keep assist and emergency lane keeping functionality), the EQE SUV is equipped with blind spot monitoring.
Tests of the AEB (car-to-car) system showed good performance with collisions avoided or mitigated in most test scenarios, including in AEB junction and AEB crossing scenarios where the test vehicle can autonomously brake to avoid crashes when turning across or crossing the path of an oncoming vehicle. Tests of the AEB head-on functionality also showed good performance in straight and lane change scenarios.
Tests of lane support system functionality showed good performance, including in several of the more critical emergency lane keeping test scenarios.
A speed assistance system with speed limit information function and intelligent adaptive cruise control are standard, informing the driver of the local speed limit and allowing the driver to accept the change in speed.
The EQE SUV has a seatbelt reminder system with occupancy detection fitted to all seating positions and a driver monitoring system detecting driver drowsiness (indirect) is fitted as standard. A direct driver monitoring system is available in Australia, but ANCAP said it was not tested or assessed.