2024 Mercedes-Benz EQS450 awarded five-star safety rating in Australia

The 2024 Mercedes-Benz EQS450 electric sedan has earned a five-star safety rating from the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP).

The top rating is only applicable to the EQS electric sedan’s EQS450 variant, which was announced for Australia earlier this week – almost a year after Mercedes-Benz brought the more expensive and better-equipped AMG EQS53 to local showrooms.

Although the score is being published in Australia in 2023, the Mercedes-Benz EQS was tested in Europe in 2021 under ANCAP and sister organisation Euro NCAP's 2020-2022 test protocols – which were superseded by stricter standards this year.

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The Mercedes-Benz EQS received scores of 96 per cent for Adult Occupant Protection, 93 per cent for Child Occupant Protection, 76 per cent for Vulnerable Road User Protection (pedestrians and cyclists), and 80 per cent for Safety Assist technology.

Its Adult Occupant Protection score is the equal second-highest under ANCAP’s current criteria – behind only the Hyundai Ioniq 6 and Tesla Model Y – and was achieved through perfect results in the full width frontal, side impact, oblique old, far side impact, and rescue and extraction tests.

The Mercedes-Benz EQS’s Child Occupant Protection rating is also the equal-highest among eight SUVs and utes, owing to full marks across the dynamic front and side criteria, plus its restraint installation system.

The electric sedan’s 80 per cent Safety Assist score was achieved through strong results in the driver monitoring and autonomous emergency braking (AEB) car-to-car categories, though its AEB junction assist function was hit with a 0.89 point penalty (out of two points).

In the Vulnerable Road User Protection category, the Mercedes-Benz EQS was noted as having good or adequate results were recorded over most of the bonnet, with some weak and poor results recorded at the base of the windscreen and the A-pillars.

Despite this, it received full marks of lower leg impacts and its AEB pedestrian backover detection.

As previously noted, the five-star result does not apply to the Mercedes-Benz AMG EQS53 – only the EQS450 variant, which is priced from $219,900 plus on-road costs.