Hi Folks - I've had a '25 EQE 350 SUV on order for many months with an original delivery date of August. Now my dealer tells me that MB has delayed the start of the model year '25 to mid-November and so my (already assembled) EQE has been sitting in Long Beach for months. I can't get it yet. Has anyone heard a definite date for the start of the model year? And why do you all think this is happening? Getting frustrated...

 

This is very strange. Normally when they delay the model year, they delay the production. And not by delaying the release of assembled vehicle!
Have you checked the VIN of your order? Is it really MY25?

 

No, this is quite typical. They start model production on a pretty strict schedule and wait to release until enough current model year cars have been sold. This is unfortunately extremely normal with MB and unless anyone has a crystal ball, release dates are unknown and really on the whim of the folks in Atlanta. Could happen any day, any week, even any month,

 

Anyone know if the charge port is now NACS on the 2025,? Since mb is not yet on Tesla network. It would the require adapter. Done

 

I doubt they will switch the connectors over until they have completed the contracts with Tesla and tested out the adaptors. They need to keep the cars compatible with charges they know work. They do not want to risk shipping cars that cannot be charged due to (another) whim of Musk's. Remember, the planned Supercharger network compatibility has been delays at least half a year due to the firing of the entire SuperCharger team.

Honestly, I wonder if the firing was really done to delay the required support of non-tesla vehicles which was a condition of receiving billions of dollars of subsidies. The timing of the firing to just after Ford was added is suspicious.

 

I can buy a CCS to NACS adapter straight from Tesla right now: https://shop.tesla.com/product/ccs-combo-1-adapter So the only reason to delay adding a NACS port to 2025 models is sheer stupidity. Hyundai just couldn't be that dumb: https://www.hyundainews.com/en-us/releases/4231

 

Changing to a NACS port is not a simple change of the plug. The setup in the car is quite different, as is the control of that plug. The NACS connector shares the main conductors between AC and DC charging, so the wiring is quite different, requires additional hardware to handle the switching between the inverter & battery, and needs additional components to handle prevent/faults. This requires significant changes to the wiring layout throughout the high voltage and inverter wiring. The high voltage relays are not small, so that space needs to be found as well. In some cars that have switched from CCS to NACS even the location of the connector on the car had to be moved to another location to make the necessary changes.

So, a redesign of a major subsystem of the car with significant safety implications that requires major changes to the layout of the high voltage electrical system, may require changes to the chassis to accommodate the wiring changes, requires changes to the assembly and test process, and major additions to the certification process. You bet they are going to make sure they have a solid plan to connect to the Tesla network before they start making this sort of investment.

 

I guess that proves Hyundai engineers are a lot smarter than Mercedes engineers. They had no problems making the switch, fast. So I agree with you, it's not just upper management at MB that's brain-dead stoopid.

 

From what I hear from folks at MB MY25 vehicles would come with a Tesla adapter in vehicles but not the native NACS port, and NACS retrofit would be financially prohibitively to offer to customers. Which is BS

 

Would be nice for MB to a least tell us what schedule is for access. Are they in testing yet? Send some MB engineers to Tesla if they are short staffed.

 

I wish it was just that simple, but there is a lotta bureaucracy on Mercedes side and lot of politics on Elon era Tesla. Ford almost single handedly made Eav ownership quite messy.

as well as the absolute inaction of other automakers made this era insanely stupid.

 

Hi folks. Just checking in - has ANYONE been able to take delivery of a '25 EQE SUV 350 in the US yet? The one I ordered last summer, and which has been built since August, is still sitting at the MB prep center in Long Beach.

 

Sorry to hear about the wait. It's not unusual lately that the upcoming model year releases late. The '23 EQEs released at the end of December/early January of 2023. The first day I was able to test drive one was on January 2nd. The wait is excruciating, but don't worry, it's coming!

 

It would require:
1. Replace the socket on the car.
2. Change the wires from the socket to a single pair of conductors for combined AC/DC operation
3. Add high voltage relays to change the connection from the battery to the inverter depending on the operating mode of the charger. I would set the relays up as normally open, and have two sets, one that closes for DC charging, the other that closes for AC charging with a physical interlock to prevent them from closing simultaneously.
4. I would also add a safety disconnect in case there was some issue with the primary charging relays.
5. Wiring from the relays to the battery or inverter. This is a significant change to the existing routing, so would involve quite a bit of work to reroute and install. In the worst case it might need more holes for cabling to pass through.
6. Add additional fusing to protect the battery/inverter in case of issues with the relays.
7. Replace the battery management unit with one setup for handling the NACS charger. This will not be a simple software upgrade as additional voltage/current sensor will be needed, as well as the additional relay control (and sense) lines.
8. Install all the additional sensors and wiring to connect the sensors to the battery management unit.

Installation would require taking about half the car apart to reach all the components and wiring harnesses - remember the connector is at the back and the bulk of the charge system is at the front.

So no retrofit. As far as Hyundai is concerned, there is no problem doing a parallel design and simply phasing it in one model year. Mercedes likely already has the design changes and factory tooling rework already figured out, so it is a matter of when they want to pull the trigger. If it were up to me, I'd wait given how unreliable a partner Tesla is.

 

MY2025 EV and PHEVs from MB will NOT feature native NACS ports, but the cars themselves will come with an adapter (hopefully)

change from CCS to NACS is not just the physical ports but also logic to switch between AC and DC modes.

What's sad with MBUSA not investing now to swap to native NACS is the retrofit-ability of our 400V cars to NACS since the 800V overhaul is just around corner, the numpty bunch at MBUSA are gonna swap to NACS plug when most of the infrastructure is 400V so the newer MY2026/7 vehicles would still charge slower but due to the DCFC. It's a net loss for the customer.

personally if MBUSA doesn't go the Ford & Rivian route with free DC adapters for existing customers, I'm walking away from MBUSA.

 

Also adding a bit of important context on the Hyundai group NACS implementation, it's basically the approach they took to ICCU failures - Sloppy and Messy.

Hyundai NACS native ports are just a physical connector change without fixing the issues that come with it, like with AC charging.

current Tesla destination chargers have both 208V 3 phase 80A and split phase 277V 60A builts, but current Hyundai AC charger overheats (and melts) while charging @ 208V 48A L2 stations - which isn't still fixed on their MY25 native NACS vehicles.

Nor they'd not support 277V L2. So if your hotel has Tesla destination chargers, a Hyundai owner (potential MBUSA NACS) customer may or may not charger there.

No way to find out unless we start pulling building electrical plans, no front desk or hotel manager is gonna know if their supply is Industrial or commercial.

I say MBUSA too because a reliable friend of mine tells me the bone heads still in GA in a building with a 3 point star are debating developing a fully supported NACS implementation costs $12/Car over buying from the same ****ty supplier Hyundai got their from (Mobis)

 

Adding a NACS port is no more difficult than making an adapter. Here's all that's required:


And even if it was hard to retrofit EQE/EQS' that wouldn't explain the bonehead maneuver to use CCS on the EQG when they already know they're switching next year. Shouldn't they have saved all that expense and re-engineering and just given us NACS from the beginning?

 

How does L2/200V charging will work with this adapter? It won't, we need voltage sensing logic to make sure 400V supply doesn't go to 220V in vehicle AC charger, and vice versa.

Retrofit would be over $10k USD

 

Adding a couple extra wires and a voltmeter should cost no more than $10. The other $9,990 must be to cover executive pay raises.

 

Not a voltmeter, since chargers don't dispense electricity until after authentication goes thru. But your sentiment is accurate, Mercedes sees service parts as a profit center the similar part in a Tesla with the tech to communicate and identity type of supply costs $580.

while just the CCS harness for EQE /EQS costs $3800 + $2500(to install labor and pairing with car) which is stupid.

 

That adaptor you are showing only works for DCFC, it does not handle AC charging which the NACS port also supports and is more widely used than DC charging. So, no, that is no where near all of what is required.

 

Do really understand so little about engineering high voltage circuits and how charging works in a car? There is a lot more going on than just plugging a big plug into the car. Note that the discussion was about what would it take to retrofit an existing car, which means you have to take the car apart to remove the old components too. Not going to happen as it would be ridiculously expensive to do it compared to supplying an adaptor for the DCFC case.

 

Hi folks. Just checking in again. Has ANYONE been able to take delivery of a '25 EQE SUV 350 in the US yet? The one I ordered last May, and which has been built since August, is still sitting at the MB prep center in Long Beach. Estimated delivery dates were August, November, December, early January, all of which have now passed. I'm a patient person, but this is starting to test my limits.

 

It will start to move very soon. Late December/January is when the next model year EQEs seem to start moving through VPC. Usually there's some approval that has to come through before the vehicles are released. Should be any day now. Good luck!

 

MB often delays release of new model years until enough of the previous inventory is sold. So depite the fact that production started last summer, and range and pricing for the model year was announced now almost a month ago, MB will wait however long they want to actually release the cars. Hopefully it will happen imminently.