For decades, Airbus and Boeing have been steering their control surfaces without any physical connection between the yoke and flight surfaces. Mercedes has now adopted this same principle on a production sedan. On the restyled EQS, unveiled on April 2 in Stuttgart, the manufacturer has removed the mechanical link between the steering wheel and the steering rack. In its place, electronic signals, interpreted by actuators, steer the wheels. According to Chief Technical Officer Markus Schäfer, this is a “an important step towards future mobility” that “enables a unique customer experience that goes beyond just steering“. This sentiment was confirmed by journalists who drove the prototype in Faro, Portugal.
And apparently, the result behind the wheel is surprising. Yann Lehtuiller, a journalist from our colleague Frandroid, had the chance to ride in the EQS. “My brain is looking for references that it can’t find in the usual places anymore,” he notes. An engineer from Mercedes commented that driving is “easier“, as all one needs to do is turn the steering wheel in the desired direction and the electric assistance takes care of the rest.
No more hand ballet in the corners, no more unnecessary corrections. It actually takes some time to adapt to the responsiveness of the car’s front end, as the sedan reacts quickly despite its size. The engineer confirmed a response time of one millisecond, with no visible delay between yoke movements and wheel movements.
