I got the front driver/pass windows tinted this morning to match the rear windows, no more fishbowl. Did the carbon tint as it was a closer match to the rear window level.

 

How was the drive back from PA? Did your Mercedes Me activate immediately so you could charge on your drive back?

 

Overall mostly good trip. I left Chicago on a flight to PHL to pick up the new EQS at 7:20 AM CT, arrived PHL at 10:15 AM ET, after waiting almost an hour for an Uber before finally giving up and taking a taxi, I arrived at the dealership at 11:30 AM ET. I signed the paperwork and setup the new car leaving Fort Washington PA at 1 PM ET -- destination back to Chicago. I made the decision around Youngstown OH that I would stop at my house in Coldwater MI for the night rather than going all the way into Chicago. (I have 48a Tesla Wall Connector there). I arrived Coldwater with 7% SoC at 10:45 PM and left the next morning around 7 AM with 70% SoC (charged very slow overnight at 9.6 kWh).

The dealership setup my Mercedes Me app access and had me setup charging over the weekend, so by the time I arrived plug in charge was fully activated.

My first charging stop was at Sheetz in Carlisle PA, this station had 2 350kWh stations, one occupied a Bolt , the other was offline. I used the 150kWh station adding 70kWh to the pack in about 29 min. I over charged here as I was on a work video call and needed to finish. Good thing I did ...

Next station was Cranberry PA - another Sheetz, I arrived at 22% SoC , and found the station completely blocked by construction , the Sheetz was working on its fuel tanks. I spent 10 min here trying to see if there was any way to access the blocked charges with absolutely no luck. I researched PlugShare and found the best next move was the EA station near Youngstown OH (about 45 miles away). Luckily, I had enough range to make the EA station in Girard OH (somewhat in line with my destination). I arrived Girard at 8% SoC and added 70 kWh on a 350 kWh station in about 28 min. This was enough time to grab some good ole McDonald's for dinner. I tried calling EA to inform them the station was blocked in Cranberry , but held for over 10 min before I hung up and just fired off an angry Tweet at them


My bladder didn't last and I was pushing the range to Coldwater so I topped off on the conveniently located EA station on the Ohio Turnpike rest area at Genoa Ohio. In a quick trip to the bathroom and a check of a few emails I added 30.5 kWh in about 14 minutes before I was off to my house in Coldwater MI. I charged overnight on my Tesla Wall Connector here for my last charge of the trip , arrival SoC 7% --> 70% making it back into Chicago with 15 miles of estimated range about 7% SoC on Tuesday at 9:30 AM CDT, plugging into my home Tesla Wall Connector (48a) for the day.

Overall impressions:

The GOM range estimator is fairly spot on, way more accurate in mileage range vs. the Tesla
Driver Assistance Functions work really well, lane changes are buttery smooth and better than the all vision AP of my Tesla Model X , you have to be careful in windy roads and not expect it to keep lane (esp in those PA mountains)
Comfort is a little bouncy , I prefer a bit more dynamic control of Sport mode
once I finally found out how to turn off Creep I was much more at home with the nearly 1 pedal driving I was used to in the Tesla
It's definitely more of a Grandpa mobile on the exterior and spaceship like in the interior, Merc could have done a more on exterior modern look of this SUV but I bought this care for luxury and comfort and I think it hits that spot on

I plan to get the windows tinted (as I did above), and likely do XPEL on the front high impact areas along with a ceramic coat. Not sure how long I'll hold this vehicle, jury is still out if it's fully for me. I'm a chronic EV switcher so don't take my views as you won't love this car , I really do love it ... I properly named him KARL -- after the very founder of MB.

Cheers

 

I think we have twins! My wife wanted the creamy grey color and the dark interior since we have three kids. The white carpeting was stunning but we were going to destroy it.

 

My last 5 Teslas all had white interior , was time for a little change.

 

I don't think Tesla cars have the blended recuperation/friction brake feature.

 

You are right in that the regenerative braking is pretty much done through the electric motors. Our 2017 Volvo XC90 T8 mixed regenerative with regular braking as did our Chevy Bolt. Neither of those cars could do one pedal driving. When the Tesla is cold or the battery completely charged then regenerative braking does not work. You have to use the regular brakes. But recently Tesla changed this with a software update. See below:

To experience the same amount of deceleration whenever you release the accelerator pedal, regardless of the state of the Battery, you can choose to have the regular braking system automatically engage whenever regenerative braking is limited. TouchControls > Pedals & Steering > Apply Brakes When Regenerative Braking is Limited.