#mercedeseqs

Instead of a radical transformation to EVs, Mercedes’ EQS vehicles have transitioned familiar vehicle styles to electrification. The EQS sedan mirrors the S-Class gas sedan, and so on. The automaker’s latest electric concept takes the same approach, and the near-production CLA EV that recently debuted at the Munich IAA Mobility show will bring electrification to the company’s sleek coupe-sedan body style.

Automakers have stumbled on a new goldmine, but their path to extracting all of the potential value is fraught with angry customers and bad PR. Connected cars have led to an increase in subscription-based features that are almost universally despised, yet companies continue trying to make them stick. Mercedes is the latest automaker to offer subscription-based upgrades, but legal issues in Europe could stop the program before it spreads outside the United States.