While a handful of French and Chinese automakers set up stands on the south side of town at the Paris Expo for the first post-pandemic Mondial de l’Automobile, Mercedes-Benz threw its own party in the 7th Arrondissement, commandeering the entire Musée Rodin and grounds to debut its EQE SUV and show off its complete electric portfolio thus far. 

The likely bread-and-butter of the Mercedes EQ lineup, the five-seat EQE SUV is the fourth EQ model built on the company’s EVA architecture, joining the EQS and EQE sedans, as well as the EQS SUV. This EQE SUV fits, footprint-wise, between the Tesla Model X and Model Y. It will go up against other newcomers in the field including the Polestar 3, which debuted in Copenhagen a few days earlier. Powertrains in the EQE SUV will range from the single-motor, RWD variant good for 214 kW to the first electric AMG-branded model, with the line-topping model making 505 kW. Like its saloon counterpart, the EQE SUV is built on the same EQ platform shared with both body styles of the EQS (the compact EQB, meanwhile, is based on the company’s ICE platform). 

On a rainy morning in Paris, head of Mercedes-Benz exterior design Robert Lesnik gave us an exclusive walkaround to discuss the EQE SUV and Mercedes’ design strategy.