What's the news?
Mercedes-Maybach, the super-opulent arm of Mercedes-Benz, is never known for doing things conventionally and so its latest eyebrow-raising creation is the Vision Ultimate Luxury, displayed at the Auto China 2018 show in Beijing. Yes, your eyes aren't deceiving you: this is a saloon SUV.
Exterior
Trying to fuse together the visual attributes of Maybach's traditional stomping ground of high-end saloons with the upright cues of an SUV might be a tricky job, but the resultant Vision Ultimate Luxury is certainly arresting to behold. It marries the large front grille of the Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6 with a rear-end appearance that's not a million miles away from the Mercedes-AMG GLE 63 S Coupe. In the arches reside an almost impossibly large set of 24-inch alloy wheels.
Lacking for sharp features or edges, perhaps the most distinctive feature of the Vision Mercedes-Maybach Ultimate Luxury are three chrome lines: two which run along each shoulder of the car; and another centre-line, that starts on the bonnet and then bisects the entire vehicle from the windscreen back, resulting in two panoramic roofs and a split rear window. Large, at 5,260mm long, 2,110mm wide and 1,764mm tall, the decision to make this Maybach SUV into a saloon, rather than the traditional 'hatchback/estate' rear of such high-riding vehicles, reflects on both the popularity of the saloon shape in China - hence the launch in Beijing - and Maybach's history of grandiose four-doors.
Interior
Mercedes-Maybach describes the cabin of the Vision Ultimate Luxury as 'sublimeness meets lightness' and so it's a four-seater that majors on cosseting, rather than trying to maximise any practicality of the vehicle with three seats in the rear row. Thus, highly luxurious fixtures and fittings abound, including the use of 'Magic Wood' ebony, a long-admired feature of Chinese furniture. Rose gold, crystal white and pearl grey colours inside combine to accentuate the flowing design of the interior, which features the twin 12.3-inch displays of the brand's Widescreen Cockpit fascia. All four diamond-quilted seats are fully electrically adjustable, have massage functions and are climate controlled, while the wide centre console has - in the rear - an integral, heated tray complete with a teapot and cups. It's not just 'olde worlde' inside, though, as the Vision Ultimate Luxury is a fully connected car that is right at the cutting edge of technology.
Mechanicals
Like any self-respecting concept car at a motor show in the late 2010s, the Vision Mercedes-Maybach Ultimate Luxury is a pure electric vehicle (EV). Four compact permanent-magnet synchronous electric motors provide fully variable all-wheel drive, as well as the small matter of 550kW - or a huge 750hp. Flat, underfloor lithium-ion batteries pack 80kWh, meaning an NEDC range of more than 500km is possible, while the top speed is pegged at 250km/h. Fast-charging functionality means the Maybach can take a capacity of up to 350kW, which equates to just five minutes of charging resulting in another 100km of range; that's seriously impressive.
Anything else?
"The Vision Mercedes-Maybach Ultimate Luxury is a totally new archetype of a kind never seen before," said Gorden Wagener, chief design officer at Daimler AG. "Our concept combines the DNA of an SUV with that of a saloon to produce an ultra-modern SUV of three-box design. With sensuality and pure sophistication, we have created a timeless vehicle that underscores the position of Mercedes-Maybach as the ultimate luxury brand."