What’s better than driving a Mercedes home from the airport? Riding in a helicopter

By Stephen Edelstein May 5, 2014

Mercedes-Benz Heli-Express

A Mercedes-Benz is among the most luxurious ways to get from Point A to Point B, but what happens when you have to step out of it?

Mercedes already has dealerships near certain airports that allow owners to avoid public parking through the company’s Airport Express service. Now, it’s taking things one step further.

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The German carmaker has teamed up with a helicopter transport company called Air Melbourne to offer a new service, Motor Authority reports.

Customers can get off a plane in Melbourne, Australia, and get into a helicopter at an adjacent Mercedes dealership.

That’s one way to beat traffic.

The helicopters will whisk their passengers to the city center, giving Mercedes’ own cars a run for their money.

The service operates from sunrise to sunset, and costs AU$274 (about $254 U.S. at current exchange rates) per ride. Mercedes has no plans to offer helicopter rides outside Australia, but it will expand to other Melbourne-area airports in the near future.

Still, hile Mercedes owners in other markets won’t get to ride helicopters home from the airport, making the trip in a leather-lined, perfume-dispensing 2014 S-Class isn’t exactly torture.

Stephen Edelstein

Contributing Editor

Stephen is a freelance automotive journalist covering all things cars. He likes anything with four wheels, from classic cars…

Cars

We need more 7-passenger EVs, but the 2023 Mercedes EQS SUV has room to improve

Front three quarter view of the 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV.

Mercedes-Benz is continuing to expand its EV lineup, this time with a model aimed at (wealthy) families.
As the name states, the 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV is an SUV derivative of the EQS sedan. With the EQS sedan positioned as the electric analog to the Mercedes S-Class, the EQS SUV is the electric version of the GLS-Class. And like that vehicle, the EQS SUV is available with up to seven seats across three rows.
That makes the EQS SUV an important vehicle not just for Mercedes, but for the cause of EV adoption in general. While the Tesla Model X and Rivian R1S also offer three rows for family-hauling duty, there’s a lot more room in the market for another entry. Given the popularity of equivalent gasoline luxury SUVs like the GLS, Land Rover Range Rover, and Cadillac Escalade, the EQS SUV arrives not a moment too soon.
The EQS SUV is scheduled to reach U.S. dealerships this fall in three guises. The base rear-wheel-drive EQS 450+ starts at $105,550 with destination, while the all-wheel drive EQS 450 4Matic and EQS 580 4Matic start at $108,550 and $127,100, respectively. Although it will be built in Alabama, the EQS SUV won’t qualify for the revised federal EV tax credit because it exceeds the $80,000 price cap for SUVs.

Design and interior
A defining feature of Mercedes’ EQ lineup is aerodynamic bodywork aimed at maximizing range. The typical SUV is not aerodynamically ideal, but Mercedes managed to achieve an impressively low drag coefficient for an SUV — at 0.26, it’s close to the Toyota Prius. But function clearly took precedence over form. Mercedes deserves credit for not going in the polarizing direction BMW did with its two-row iX SUV, but the EQS SUV looks like a melting scoop of ice cream.
More disappointing is the third row, which should be the EQS SUV’s defining feature, but seems more like a useless afterthought. Adults will find it difficult to insert themselves into the third-row seats, let alone tolerate riding in them. As in most three-row vehicles, the rear seats also pretty much eliminate cargo space. And if you want to fold them down to create more cargo room, you’ll have to do it manually as Mercedes didn’t include a power-folding system — a bit disappointing for a six-figure car. The EQS SUV also lacks a frunk; like the EQS sedan, the hood is sealed.
The EQS SUV looks like a melting scoop of ice cream.

Cars

Lux and refreshingly livable, Mercedes’ EQE moves EVs mainstream

Front three quarter view of the 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQE sedan.

Mercedes-Benz wants its EQ sub-brand to be an all-electric counterpart to its current lineup of gasoline luxury cars, and it’s working toward that goal by starting at opposite ends of the price spectrum and working toward the middle.
Where the EQS sedan and SUV are the flagships of the lineup, and the EQB serves as an entry-level offering, the 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQE sedan aims for the middle of the market. It’s pitched as an electric equivalent of the Mercedes E-Class, one of the automaker’s bread-and-butter models. And like the E-Class, the EQE will compete against sedans from Mercedes’ German rivals, such as the Audi e-tron GT, BMW i4, and Porsche Taycan. It will likely be cross-shopped against the Genesis Electrified G80, Lucid Air, and Tesla Model S as well.
The EQE sedan arrives at U.S. dealerships in late 2022 in four guises: base rear-wheel drive EQE 350+, all-wheel drive EQE 350 4Matic and EQE 500 4Matic, and an AMG EQE performance version. Mercedes hasn’t disclosed pricing for any of these models, but the EQE 350 4Matic we tested for this first drive will likely be a mid-tier trim level. Like its EQS sibling, the EQE will also get an SUV variant, which will launch sometime after the sedan version.

Design and interior
The EQE has the same lozenge-like shape as the EQS sedan, which is dictated by aerodynamics. The appeal of the design is up for debate, but the smooth shape reduces aerodynamic drag, which helps improve efficiency and range. Under the skin, the EQE is also based on the same EVA2 architecture as the EQS sedan.
But while the two EQ sedans look similar at first glance, the EQE is a bit smaller than its sibling. It’s 10.6 inches shorter than the EQS sedan, with a 3.5-inch shorter wheelbase. Rear-seat passengers might notice the difference, but like its gasoline E-Class counterpart, the EQE is aimed more at drivers than passengers. Its tidier proportions were also a bit more pleasing to our eyes, making the EQE look sleeker than its sibling.
The interior design is minimalist while still maintaining functionality.

Cars

We tested the self-driving Mercedes tech so advanced, it’s not allowed in the U.S.

Mercedes-Benz S-Class sedan with Drive Pilot.

You can’t buy a fully self-driving car today -- and may never be able to -- but automakers are looking at ways to shift more of the workload from human drivers to machinery. Mercedes-Benz may have taken the biggest step in that direction yet.

Mercedes claims its Drive Pilot system, which was recently launched in Germany, is the first production system to achieve Level 3 on the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) autonomy scale, meaning the car can fully drive itself with the system active, but a human driver may still need to take over from time to time. It’s still a long way off from autonomous driving, but the Level 3 designation signifies a greater degree of capability than competitor systems.