EQB

The EQB 250+ sold in Australia carries a third row of seats as standard, so it seats up to seven. It is best understood as a 5+2 rather than a full seven-seater: the rearmost pair folds out of the boot floor and suits children or shorter adults on shorter trips. A sliding second row makes access easy. The flexibility is rare in an electric SUV this compact, which is the EQB's main point of difference. If you need three rows adults can use every day, step up to the larger Kia EV9 or Mercedes EQS SUV.

The EQB is currently ANCAP-unrated. At launch it wore a five-star rating carried over from its petrol twin, the GLB, which ANCAP tested in 2019, but that datestamped rating has since lapsed, so the current car has no active star rating. That is not the same as failing a test; it simply has not been re-rated. Standard equipment still includes autonomous emergency braking, lane keep assist, adaptive cruise control and blind-spot monitoring, plus airbags covering all three rows. If a current five-star rating is essential to your purchase, confirm the status before you buy.

The EQB 250+ is front-wheel drive, powered by a single electric motor making 140kW and 385Nm. It will reach 100km/h in a claimed 8.9 seconds, which is adequate rather than quick. The dual-motor, all-wheel-drive EQB 350 4MATIC that once sat above it has left the Australian range, so front-wheel drive is now the only choice. For most family duty that suits it fine, since the EQB is set up for easy everyday commuting rather than performance. If you want the reassurance of all-wheel drive or sharper acceleration, look at rivals such as the Tesla Model Y or a dual-motor Hyundai Ioniq 5.

As of mid-2026, the single EQB 250+ grade is priced around $97,344 driveaway in New South Wales. Ownership is covered by Mercedes-Benz's five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, twelve-month service intervals and five years of roadside assistance. Running costs are where an EV like this claws money back: charging at home is far cheaper than fuelling the petrol GLB it is based on. There is also a tax angle worth checking. The EQB's list price sits close to the fuel-efficient Luxury Car Tax threshold, which can make it eligible for the federal electric-vehicle FBT exemption on a novated lease, so the driveaway figure is not the whole ownership story.

With the third row folded into the floor, the EQB offers 495 litres of boot space, which is competitive for a compact SUV. Fold the second row down too and that grows to 1,710 litres, enough for flat-pack furniture or a big airport run. With all seven seats in use the boot shrinks to a small parcel space, as you would expect of a 5+2, so the third row is best treated as occasional rather than everyday. A power tailgate is standard, and the sliding second row lets you trade rear legroom for cargo when you need to.

The EQB 250+ uses a 70.5kWh battery, sized for daily family driving around town and the suburbs rather than long-distance touring. In the real world its range and charging speed trail newer electric rivals: the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Tesla Model Y both go further between charges and top up faster at a fast charger. For a household that mostly charges at home and does the school run, errands and the odd weekend trip, the EQB has enough range to be an easy daily. If you regularly drive long distances between chargers, shortlist those longer-legged rivals too.