The EQA gets a good thrashing

Nile Bijoux takes the Mercedes-Benz EQA long-term test car for a good old-fashioned drive before it is returned.

The final update for the long term Mercedes-Benz EQA sees an excursion out to somewindy Northland roads. Because, why not?

After a trip toWarkworth, I took the EQA back to Auckland via Woodcocks Rd, a good ribbon of tarmac for testing vehicular agility... if you manage to time it right and miss the trucks, of course.

The EQA isn’t a performance vehicle, it’smuchmore of a commuter and family wagon, so Iwasn’t really expecting fireworks. But there were someAMG floormats, which basically make it a sports car, so armed with sheer willpower, I clicked into Sportmode and set off.

First, Sport sharpens the throttle response a lot. What would normally push the power percentage dial to, say, 30%, now sends it north of 50. That’s great, especially paired with a couple of steps of regeneration, as itmimics the feeling of harder engine brakingwith amore eager powertrain.

You can power into a corner, lay off the volts for a second, dab the brakes, and boost out just as you would a petrol car. The slightly heavier steering in Sport mode is appreciated too.

The standard rubber is definitely less interested in hard driving, the fronts protesting within a few corners of the Woodcocks experience and howling after 10 minutes. Doubly so with the frontmounted electricmotor, as the instant torque immediately spins the wheels if the front end is at all unsettled.

But the chassis, the same found underneath the combustion GLA, is a beaut. It doesn’t roll too much through the corners, offering just enough pliability to prevent bouncing across the road but still retaining some stiffness.

Theweight of the 250 means its 140kW of power doesn’t feel all that impressive (again, it’s a commuter sort of car), so having a bit more poke would be nice, especially for passing manoeuvres. I suspect the all-wheel drive EQA 350 will be an even better drive, especially $93,800).

Mercedes-Benz EQA 250 Base price:

Powertrain and range:

Permanentmagnet synchronous electric motor and 66.5 kWh battery, 140kW/375Nm, FWD, 426km range (WLTP). 2778km 22.3Wh/100km (WLTP claim: 17.7kWh/100km combined).

drive! $85,500 (As tested:

How far we’ve gone: Power consumption:

What have we done lately?

What we like:

Go for a

Throttle response in Sports mode, great chassis for a commuter car.

What we don’t like:

FWD and electric torque means understeer. if the power split is more rear-biased.

Of course, the trade-off for fun is reduced range. We’re not yet at the point where regenerative braking pulls back the same energy used to propel the car, and we probably won’t be there for a long time, so going hell for leather around a back road really tanks the battery.

But that’s not news, nor is it criticism of the EQA, just something to note.