I think we are all familiar with the Mercedes-Benz Vito or the V Class. It a smaller van for cargo or people transport, specifically for the shuttle type of transport systems, such as those from the airport to the hotel and vice-versa. It's for those who respect themselves and want something more than a Volkswagen Transporter or an Open Vivaro. The EQV offers more, it offers luxury and status, it's for those who want to do business in style.

Mercedes EQV is imposing and very versatile

Looking at it from the outside, you realize that this "car", even though it's really a van, is large, which comes with some drawbacks, but also a number of benefits. The main drawback of the EQV is that it's too large to be driven around the city easily; it's large across the board, especially on its length. I had trouble parking it, because it doesn't fit in the traditional parking spots made for cars, or if it fits, it's barely. But driving it in general is surprisingly easy and I will come back to this aspect in a minute.

To get in or out of the EQV, you will use four doors, the two in the front for the driver and the passenger, as well as two on the side, which are sliding and can also be powered, if you spend some extra cash. What's waiting for you inside is totally up to you. You can have armrests or a traditional rear seating, as well as face-to-face armrests for holding a conference on the go. You can also have a table between the armrests, so that you can work on a laptop or showcase a project. There is also the option to have a bed and small furniture for camping, in the Marco Polo version. The options are nearly endless and the design, modular.

Everything is mounted on a sliding floor, so if you want to rethink your interior in the future, you can do it without an issue.

No matter how many seats you install in the EQV, you'll never run out of space. Our car was designed as sort of a mini-office so to speak. Two large armrests in the front and in the back, two more armrests back-to-back with those in the rear, as well as an additional three seats in the boot, facing the road. Between the two rows of seats in the back, there was a sliding table that can be set-up in multiple ways. It's obvious that the version we had was designed for working on the go, otherwise we wouldn't have had the face-to-face seats or the modular working table.

Our EQV had some space in the boot, which can be opened electrically, as well, but only if you purchase the extra option, but you can purchase a version with even more space. We had the EQV 300 Long for testing, coming in at 5.14 meters in length, but there's also the Extra-Long version, which is 5.37 meters and the increase is beneficial mostly for storing more luggage.

How it feels to drive the Mercedes-Benz EQV

Enough from the outside, let's hop in. As you get in the EQV, you realize that it's a car with a tall driving position, but we already stated that it's a van. You will see over the cars ahead quite comfortably, even if you look over an SUV, for example.

Normally, an upward driving position has drawbacks, as well, such as less stability compared to a traditional car or the sensation of a wobbly-ride. But here is where Mercedes-Benz worked their magic, because these feelings are almost inexistent or even completely mitigated. EQV can be configured with the AIRMATIC suspension, an expensive option, but one that's worth every penny. Why? It offers better stability on curvy roads and it absorbs indentations and potholes like it's nobody's business. At speeds in excess of 110 km/h, it will even lower the vehicle by about one centimeter so that you have better aerodynamics, better range and better stability.

The 204 HP electric motor is more than plentiful and offers enough power even in the eco or maximum range modes, keeping in mind that this is a van, still. If you need faster accelerations, you can put it in comfort or sport and it will pull faster, but keep in mind to switch that mode off unless you want the range to go out of the window.

We drove the Mercedes-Benz EQV even at speeds in excess of 130 km/h and even there it felt very stable. This is where the weight comes in handy, as it's over 2.5 tons and the battery, with a capacity of 90kWh, is under the floor, keeping the center of gravity low. I think that for longer commutes, this car is perfect. You have plenty of space for the cargo and the passengers, it's comfortable, stable and easy to control even at higher speeds. This is where I think the Mercedes-Benz EQV shines for regular people. You go with the family on a longer trip in Greece or in Western Europe, you get on the highway and stay there for hundreds of kilometers at a time. You will spend some time charging, but I'll get to this part.

On twisty roads, it's the same story, very stable, even if it doesn't compare to a sports car for obvious size reasons. Generally, it encourages you to drive comfortably, but it can also be sporty when needed, if you want to "wake your family". Those sitting in the back will feel comfortable, too, but will feel potholes and indentations more than those in the front and they won't be happy, either, if you'll take them fast on a curvy road. It's a drastic difference in how the EQV feels when driving on a highway versus on twisty roads, especially if you compare front to rear seating.

In the city, the car behaves nicely for its size. So long as you're driving and you don't need to park it in a smaller space or to filter the traffic, it's comfortable. The steering is very soft, but precise, making this absolute unit easy to drive even on smaller streets.

This Mercedes is perfect for comfort on medium-long trips

The air suspension coupled with the large distance between the front and rear axle make the EQV great for taking on potholes or railway, for example, as you almost don't feel them at times.

I think it would have helped if we had rear-steering on the V Class, meaning that the rear wheels would have steered alongside those in the front, like it's happening on the Renault Rafale, which we also took for a spin earlier this year in Spain. Such a configuration makes the car more mobile, especially since we talk about a car that is long, and parking in smaller places is easier. Maybe in the future.

Maybe you think that the EQV should offer you all the best when it comes to comfort, given it's a Mercedes and that is the case, indeed. The seats are large, made from leather and with individual armrests. The passengers in the front enjoy heated seats, which are very good when it's cold outside, as well as heated steering wheel. The climate system works very well and has many ventilation ports. In the front, it can be adjusted by two zones, while in the back, there are two ports on each side, as well as one on the front of the side doors.

The system is intelligent and if it feels there's a chance for condensation, it will automatically take control to make sure you don't have any visibility issues.

The materials on the inside are soft, the plastic, in the few places where it's installed, it's also soft and gives you the sensation of luxury. That's part of the reason why you purchase a V Class and no other van, even if there are other models that you can do your job with, without a doubt.

When you fasten your seatbelt in the front, it squeezes you gently, it sits nicer on the body, these are details that made me smile very time I got in the EQV.

Our car came with the optional Burmester audio system, with a large speaker on each door, as well as a few more scattered around. It sounds well, it's nicely balanced and implemented in a way to make you listen to music in a relaxed way, not necessarily to blast it at night time in the neighborhood.

The EQV makes you a safer driver, but the system is showing its age

When we talk about the technology implemented on the EQV, we don't only think about the ones meant for safety, but also to those that make it easy to drive such as large vehicle, all encompassed in an old infotaimnent system. Let's take them one at a time.

For safety, the car is almost perfect, but it sometimes overreacts. For example, my colleague Vlad drove it on the A3 highway with the adaptive cruise control set to speeds between 100 and 130 km/h. When the car in the front accelerated, so did the EQV until it reached the set speed. When the person ahead drove a bit slower and needed to be overtaken, the van started to accelerate, but fairly slow compared to the traffic. Still, if it thinks you are even remotely close to hitting the car in front of you, it brakes powerfully. Even if the stoplights of the car ahead start shining, but there's no sign of slowing, the EQV will still brake strongly and might even scare you, for no real reason.

This is why it's best not to count entirely on these technologies and keep an eye out for the situations that might be dangerous, as well as for the general pace of the traffic. Otherwise, depending on your current speed and the car ahead of you, the EQV will warn you if you're too close and risk not being able to brake in case of an emergency.

The van can keep its lane temporarily, as well, even if there's a slide curve ahead, but it will start warning you to get the hands on the wheel fairly quickly. In the city, it will warn you to watch for pedestrian crossings when you meet one, especially if the speed is a little excessive. It can even brake for itself in case of an emergency, if the speed isn't too high, but I obviously didn't test this.

You have blind spot monitoring, as well, which works very well and is super useful on such a long vehicle, while you also have lane assist and overspeed warnings. The parking sensors are also very good, sometimes they seem to overreact, but it's better than to hit something. The cameras, in the front and the rear, have good visibility and help you orient yourself, especially in a parking lot.

Unfortunately, all these great features are integrated in a user interface that's very old and not very intuitive to navigate. It's a shame that Mercedes didn't redesign this operating system yet after many years when it was implemented. It works, does its job fairly well, but it could work even better and could be more intuitive. It's a mixture of old and new. Old because it looks as such, but new because it offers features that I didn't see on other cars. For example, you can even connect your smartwatch so that the car can read your pulse in real time. This way, it can figure if you are too stressed or too tired to drive safely.

The integrated navigation is useful, because it tells you where you can find charging stations, but you wouldn't want to really use it. It looks like an aftermarket navigation system from 10-15 years ago, even if the streets are visible well and contains even the newest streets, such as a new boulevard located in Western Bucharest.

As far as I'm concerned, Mercedes would be in a better position if it was to implement a navigation system from Google based on Android, such as that used by Renault on its current-generation cars. It's fast, intuitive, integrated with Google Maps, but also with other navigation apps, such as Waze, it redirects you towards charging stations along the way and estimates your range according to the type of road that you drive on and the distance. Still, the EQV is integrated with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.

The good news is that, if you come from and older Mercedes, you'll feel right at home here.

Range and conclusion for the Mercedes EQV 300

The EQV's range is low, but there are some good reasons for that. Firstly, the battery mounted on this model isn't very large, at just 90kWh. If we think that the Scenic E-Tech, which we also tested recently, is more compact and has a battery that's 87kWh, things could definitely be improved here, but Mercedes engineers need to redesign the whole platform. Overall, we got around 300 kilometers on a charge between Bucharest and a mountain resort and back, but we had to refuel close to home, because we had only 15% in the battery. And we generally drove in the eco or maximum range modes, so driving in comfort or sport will tank the range further.

the charging power doesn't impress, either, but it's enough, at 110kW. We stopped at a Renovatio charging station, capable of offering up to 200kW, so we pushed the system to its limits. After 38 minutes, we had 50% in the battery and the session costed us around 80 RON, so we drove at a little over 1 RON per kilometer. That's not necessarily great, if we think about the fact that the diesel version of the V Class, meaning that the price of the electric version is higher than those on combustion.

You are waiting longer for a "refill", charging stations are few and far between still compared to gas stations and the diesel model runs for longer than 300 kilometers on a full tank. So, if you're running for long trips, you are still better off on the diesel model.

But if your trips are around 50 kilometers between a hotel and an airport, for example, or you drive for less than 200 kilometers in a day and at the end of the day you have a charging spot for the EQV, it can be a very good choice.

With a starting price of a little over 85.000 euros, which can climb to over 96.000 with all the options, EQV is not a van for everybody. It's for those who want luxury, for those who want comfort and for those who want the quality and the build that Mercedes still offers.

Two of the more affordable alternatives are the Volkswagen Id.Buzz and the Renault Traffic E-Tech, but I'm not sure that the latter can be configured for passengers, as well. For range, the Id.Buzz is the clear winner if you opt for the top model, with 4Motion and the 91kWh battery, because it goes up to around 450 kilometers, but you cut corners for space and comfort. Renault Traffic is similar with regards to the design to the EQV, has almost the same range, but loses on the quality of the materials, the comfort and the quality of the ride.

If the budget allows for it, you have a nice parking space for it and want to make sure that your family has the most comfort for long trips, then the Mercedes EQV could be the MPV (multi-purpose vehicle) to conquer European roads with. Safe travels.