You can open and close the Mercedes EQS' doors with your voice
The electric EQS even knows who you are and where you're sitting in the car.
Open sesame.
Just like the 2021 S-Class, the new Mercedes-Benz EQS electric sedan has flush door handles that pop out and illuminate when you caress them, which then allow you to pull the handle to open the door. But what if you don't want to exert the tremendous amount of physical energy needed to touch your car and manually open the door? Luckily the EQS is the first Mercedes that's available with the new Keyless Go Convenience Package Plus, which adds powered doors that automatically open as you walk up to the car.
Now, powered doors aren't exactly new to the car world. The Tesla Model X has front doors that will open as you walk up to the car; Rolls-Royces like the new Ghost have had power-closing doors for years; and some minivans have powered sliding doors that open with a wave of your foot underneath. Instead, it's the implementation of the powered doors in the EQS that sets them apart.
The doors can be opened and closed via the central touchscreen.
The car uses sensors and cameras to detect surrounding objects so it won't smack the doors into things like poles or other cars as they open on their own. Once you've sat in the driver's seat, the driver's door closes with a press of the brake pedal. You can also bring up a page on the center screen that shows a top-down view of the car where you can individually open or close all four doors -- and the process can be stopped midway if you'd like. The rear hatch is powered too, of course, and the doors can also be opened and closed with the key fob.
But what about if you're sitting in the back seat? Surely you would never want to actually reach out and pull on the door handle to close it -- that's not luxurious -- and the EQS doesn't have a physical door close button on the interior pillars like in a Rolls-Royce . That's where your voice comes in. Just say, "Hey, Mercedes," to activate the MBUX voice assistant, then "close my door." And presto, the EQS will close your door. Not only can the car recognize different voices and tie them to individual profiles, it also knows which seat you're sitting in based on where your voice is coming from, so it will close your specific door. This works for opening them as well.
Like other small and seemingly silly features like heated armrests and augmented-reality navigation, when I first heard about the EQS' doors I thought they were cool but a bit pointless. But then I actually experienced them in real life and now I want every car to have doors that I can close with my voice. Comfort, convenience, serenity and never needing to do anything yourself. That's real luxury.
