When a luxury carmaker refreshes its flagship limousine, people usually see if it has become plusher – bigger screens, more comfortable seats, quieter cabin, more features, and so on.
But the new Mercedes-Benz S-Class deserves a look not just inside the cabin and under the hood, but also under the body and soul.
Called the S 450e, it’s a plug-in hybrid car – delivering 320 kW (435 bhp) and 680 Nm combined output, with around 115 km of pure electric range (thanks to a 22-kWh battery) – but there is a piece of engineering under the body that has elevated its soul.
Unlike the previous S-Class, the S 450e is a rear-wheel drive (RWD) car.
Decoupling Front Axle
In the ultra-luxury and ultra-powerful space, carmakers usually give their flagships all-wheel drive to safely manage the traction. But the S 450e sends all of 680 Nm to the rear wheels – making this car a game-changer in both self-driven and chauffeur-driven spaces.
By freeing the front axle from direct-drive-related components, the steering precision is claimed to have become far more refined – enhancing the self-driving experience. When that brute force of 680 Nm rotates the rear axle, the S 450e gets a yacht-like lift-off when accelerating – basically, instead of being pulled from the front, the car seems to be getting pushed from behind, providing the driver exhilarating acceleration, and the rear-seat passengers a jerk-free experience.
P2 Architecture
To complement its RWD, the S 450e has a parallel P2 architecture where the electric motor is located directly between the engine (3.0-litre, inline-six) and the gearbox (9-speed 9G-Tronic), making sure that even when the car is being driven in pure electric mode, it is shifting through physical gears, keeping the electric motor in its optimal efficiency at highway speeds, while preserving the crisp acceleration rhythm of a luxury car.
The S 450e also gets Mercedes-Benz’s 4.5-degree rear-axle steering system as a standard feature – although it’s a long car (over 5.3 metres), it’s easy to navigate tight luxury hotel parking lots and driveways.
With more than 2,700 newly developed or refined components, the new S-Class isn’t just an incremental update, but an all-new technology transformation. It’s priced from Rs 2.2 crore to Rs 2.38 crore, ex-showroom, and deliveries will start during the festive season.
