Early in the morning, we crossed the entire city from the western part of the magic capital to the Mercedes-EQ Experience Store at 899 Pudong South Road, and a neat line of EQA/EQBs was waiting for us to start our special day.
What will accompany us all day is an EQA 300 4MATIC premiere special edition priced at 365,800 yuan, and the fleet also includes the 437,800 yuan EQB 350 4MATIC premiere special edition.
Last year we test-drove the GLA in Changsha, and the EQA is its pure electric version, the overall appearance of the two is very similar, the biggest difference is that the EQA uses the EQ family of closed grilles. Other vehicles, such as body size and wheelbase, are basically the same, positioning compact SUV.
See the porcelain art exhibition
After less than 10 minutes of getting into the car, we came to the first stop of the trip: the Aurora Museum. Countless times from the Bund in Puxi, I have looked at this Aurora Tower from the Bund, but this is the first time I have actually come here. The first stop of our trip is the "Restart - Chen Liang Art Exhibition" here, Chen Liang is a leading figure in contemporary Haipai porcelain art, the first researcher of the National Academy of Painting of China, the son of Chen Jialing, a professor of the Chinese Painting Department of the Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts, and he is the inheritor of the post-70s Haipai intangible cultural heritage porcelain art. In his porcelain works, he integrates elements such as Chinese painting ink painting, Chinese furniture, and intangible cultural heritage, reflecting the inheritance and innovation of Haipai porcelain art.
The exhibition is composed of more than 100 works in 11 series of "Great Landscape", "Fusion", "Cylinder Array", "October", "Dialogue on the Other Side", "Chaos", "Reconstruction", "Rebirth", "Gas Engine", "Ming Ru Yue", and "Leaning Mountain". Through video display, handmade space, scene creation, intangible cultural heritage chronology and other display methods, the exhibition allows the audience to understand the special crafts of contemporary porcelain such as kiln change, glaze and underglaze in multiple dimensions and more comprehensively.
Drink hand-brewed coffee
After receiving the influence of art, we immediately moved to the café, where we were waiting for a professional coffee lesson. From the types and production areas of coffee beans to the categories of coffee, to the teaching and demonstration of coffee pulling flowers, the real focus is on the personal experience and tasting of hand-brewed coffee.
As a coffee lover, I also use the espresso machine at home to make fancy coffee on weekdays, including mocha pots, hand-brewers and other utensils. I thought that hand brewing was already one of the simplest types of coffee, but I found that hand-brewed coffee was also very knowledgeable.
For example, how much coffee powder grinding degree is appropriate, how much water should correspond to a few grams of powder, how much water temperature is appropriate, warm cups and filter paper preheating, coffee powder preheating and secondary water injection time, and even the posture of water injection, etc., are actually very exquisite. No wonder hand punch as a recently popular coffee category, the price is more expensive than ordinary coffee, the original real test is the barista's technique, it can be said that each cup of hand brew coffee has a unique taste.
Holding your own brewed coffee and savoring the Bund style facing the other side of the river, it feels quite pleasant.
After lunch, we finally ushered in a relatively long driving route to the Shanghai Broadcasting Arts Center in Puxi, where we will take a lesson in improvisational comedy.
Now it's time to take a good look at this Mercedes-Benz pure electric SUV EQA. First of all, it is still the familiar interior, which is basically the same as the GLA, the same dual screen, the same style steering wheel, and even the same "paddle"——
As a pure electric SUV, the paddles on the EQA are certainly not used to shift gears, its actual function is to switch the gear of kinetic energy recovery, respectively, there are D, D+, D Auto three gears, D represents mild kinetic energy recovery, D+ is close to no recycling of the taxi mode, D Auto can automatically adjust the recovery force according to road conditions and vehicle conditions. So for friends who have just switched from fuel vehicles to EQA, the use of D+ can quickly integrate the electric driving characteristics of EQA.
In terms of power, the EQA has a maximum power of 168kW and 390Nm of torque, although its body will be heavier than the GLA, but after all, as an electric vehicle, it will still be more abundant than the GLA 200 in terms of power, and the acceleration time of 100 kilometers is only 7.7 seconds. From the intuitive driving experience, the EQA's starting and acceleration capabilities are also more relaxed, in line with the performance of a pure electric SUV.
The power is better, but it does not seem to be as good as the fuel version of the GLA in terms of braking foot feeling, mainly in the soft foot feeling, and the braking force is not linear enough at low speed, especially when approaching parking. In addition, in terms of suspension tuning, it can be observed that EQA is more obviously biased towards comfort, and the suspension is more thorough in filtering the vibration of the road surface, that is, its overall driving experience will be more comfortable.
In terms of configuration, this EQA 300 4MATIC premiere special edition can almost be said to be full. Let's talk about a few personal favorite configurations, such as AR real-life navigation, support for CarPlay and CarLife, sound of Berlin, panoramic sunroof, wireless charging, and Mercedes-Benz ancestral 64-color advanced mood lights and so on.
The EQA is equipped with a 73.5 kWh battery pack, the CLTC has a range of 537 km, and the actual endurance of 400 km should be no problem. Of course, due to today's short urban driving experience, we are not able to give our views on endurance and more long-distance driving experience for the time being, and look forward to having the opportunity to evaluate it in detail in the future.
At present, EQA has and only this model is on sale, and the price of 365,800 yuan is exactly around 90,000 yuan compared with the price of the entry-level GLA 180 274,900 yuan. What can I do for 90,000 yuan? In Shanghai, it happens to be the price of a blue card, so EQA and entry-level GLA may be close to the landing price in Shanghai, which one will you choose? The former is a pure electric model equipped with a fully pulled, and the latter is an entry model that needs to shoot its own cards and has a lower configuration, tell me your answer!
Act in improvised comedy
The last stop, "Improv Comedy", invited the team led by Xiaojun, a former dynamic 101 music breakfast DJ who has a lot of popularity in Shanghai. As a highly engaging class, we not only observed the art of "improvisational comedy" on the spot, but we were even able to participate in it and create an exclusive stage performance with the actors. This is also a very rare experience for those of us who don't have much acting experience.
Watching porcelain art exhibitions, drinking hand-brewed coffee, performing impromptu comedies, trying many new experiences in one day, including EQA itself, is also a new understanding for us. Among the German luxury brands, Mercedes-Benz has always been the fastest moving one. In the near future, when you want to buy an electric car, you will find any type of model, you can find the corresponding model in the EQ family of Mercedes-Benz, they can not only bring Mercedes-Benz's consistent luxury quality, but also contain all the expectations of electric vehicles.