All-electric Mercedes AMG EQS 53 will rival the EVs of Audi and Porsche

Here at TechRadar, we really like the Mercedes EQS. Having spent time driving the car, we found the German brand's flagship all-electric sedan – which combines a tech-laden luxury interior with impressive range specs – to be an exciting taste of what's to come in the automotive industry.

We were even more excited, then, to learn that Mercedes is introducing a performance variant of the EQS, the AMG EQS 53, which will mark the company's first-ever all-electric performance vehicle.

Ahead of its global unveiling at the 2021 IAA Mobility conference on September 7 (alongside the EQE electric sedan), Mercedes has shared details of the performance upgrades drivers can expect from its upcoming AMG EQS 53 – and as you'd expect, they're enough to rival some of the best electric cars around.

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Mercedes says the AMG variant of its luxurious EQS EV is "made for car enthusiasts who are looking for a combination of innovative electric mobility in a luxurious ambience, coupled with sportiness and agile driving dynamics."

The standard variant of the Mercedes EQS (Image credit: Mercedes)

By that metric, the AMG EQS 53 should deliver in spades. At its heart is a performance-oriented powertrain with two motors, at the front and rear axles, which give the EQS 53 Mercedes' trademark 4MATIC+ all-wheel drive capabilities.

The automaker says those motors will generate a power output of 484 kW and 560 kW, respectively, depending on whether or not drivers choose to add the AMG Dynamic Plus package.

Quick off the mark

Should they opt for the latter, the EQS 53 will be able to accelerate from 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) in just 3.4 seconds, though without the Dynamic Plus package, drivers will still be able to sprint the same distance in 3.8 seconds.

Those are around the same acceleration speeds as the comparable Audi e-tron GT and Porsche Taycan electric cars, while the EQS 53's limited top speeds of either 220 km/h (137 mph) or 250 km/h (155 mph) are equally similar.

As you'd expect, those figures are superior to the standard all-wheel-drive variant of the EQS, which reaches 100 km/h (60 mph) in around 4.3 seconds and sports a top speed of 210 km/h (around 130 mph), though they come at the expense of a vastly inferior range.

Mercedes says the EQS 53's 107 kWh battery grants the EV up to 580km (around 360 miles) of range, which is dwarfed by its sibling's staggering 780km (roughly 484 miles) figure, made possible by its record-breaking aerodynamic design.

Still, a 580km range puts the EQS 53 way ahead of its aforementioned performance class competitors, the e-tron GT and Taycan, which corroborates Mercedes' sporty-meets-innovative philosophy for its first all-electric AMG.

We'll have more details on the AMG EQS 53 when it's officially unveiled at the 2021 IAA Mobility conference, though we expect the car to land some time in mid-2022.