ELECTRIC HOLIDAY HEROICS

If the OPEL ASTRA GSe and CITROEN e-C4 firmly ticked the box marked ‘special-interest’, then our final Holiday Hero ticked it ten times over. We had briefly sampled the MERCEDES EQE 53 4MATIC+ at an AMG track day and the all-electric saloon’s fast-lapping ability was nothing short of astonishing. To start the new year with an EQE 53 meant an opportunity to hit the open road with attitude but also undertake city drives in our best threads, arriving at gatherings in cocooned, pre-conditioned comfort and making a strong impression when parking up. The EQE has it all: scorching dual-motor acceleration, adventurous looks that shout advanced aerodynamics, adaptive air suspension and more cabin wizardry than most motorists can dream of. You even get decent braking feel. More important than the outrageous oomph was the sense of luxury and security we enjoyed on every outing and the high sense of occasion that was apparent from start-up. How Mercedes engineers this level of cabin isolation into a sporty four-door riding on 21-inch alloys is mindboggling and the graphics and clarity of the cabin-width hyperscreen are equally mesmerising. No surprise, then, that even EV naysayers who scored a ride conceded that there are few better ways to travel. And with our AMG drive day experience lodged in the memory bank, we came away satisfied that we had found the sweetspot in Merc’s comprehensive EQ line-up.