The EQS and its holistic charging concept.

The new Mercedes me Charge function Plug & Charge makes it even easier to charge the EQS at suitable public charging stations: charging starts as soon as the charging cable is plugged in; no further authentication from the customer is required. The vehicle and the charging station communicate directly via the charging cable.

As before, Mercedes me Charge customers continue to benefit from the integrated payment function with automatic payment. The customer chooses the preferred payment method only once. Every charging process is then automatically debited – even abroad. The individual charging processes are clearly listed in a monthly invoice.

Information about a charging station's compatibility with Plug & Charge is available on the navigation map of the EQS and in the Mercedes me App. It is also possible to search for specific, suitable charging stations. This convenient authentication method will initially be available at the IONITY rapid charging stations throughout Europe and at selected stations in the USA. Plug & Charge is the fourth access to charging after release via MBUX on the vehicle's media display, the Mercedes me app and the Mercedes me Charge charging card.

Green power, that is to say electricity from renewable resources, is a significant factor in the lifecycle of an electric car as a means of avoiding CO₂ emissions. This is because, with the current EU energy mix about 50 percent of the CO₂ footprint of a battery-electric vehicle is produced during the use phase, i.e., due, to charging processes that generate CO₂.

Mercedes-Benz therefore facilitates green charging at all of the 200,000-plus public charging points in the Mercedes me Charge network in Europe. This applies to owners of all Mercedes-Benz EQ models and owners of all plug-in hybrids. It will be launched in the USA and Canada during the course of the year with the EQS.

How Green Charging works: To promote the use of electricity from renewable energies, Mercedes-Benz uses guarantees of origin to 'green' the charging process, whose quality is defined by an eco power label. This ensures that an equivalent amount of electricity from renewable resources is fed into the grid to compensate for the charging of an electric vehicle. Amounts of energy used for charging are thus offset with green power after the actual charging process, also creating incentives to invest in renewable energy plants.

Mercedes me Charge is one of the world's largest charging networks and is continuously expanding. It currently comprises of around 500,000 AC and DC charging points worldwide, of which over 200,000 are in Europe. Here alone, there are over 400 different operators of public charging stations, whose charging points can be accessed by Mercedes me Charge customers.

With Mercedes me Charge only a single contract is required for this: Customers benefit from an integrated payment function with simple billing after they have registered their payment method with the Mercedes me charge partner once. The objective: relaxed, uncomplicated travel with transparency and planning certainty.

The EQS will also allow bidirectional charging in Japan, i.e. charging in both directions. The CHAdeMO ("Charge de Move") charging standard there supports bidirectional charging, which is the prerequisite for applications such as V2G ("Vehicle-to-Grid") and V2H ("Vehicle-to-Home"). This means that the EQS can be used as a power bank for energy from the home photovoltaic system or supply the household with energy in the event of a failure in the public main systems, for example.