Compare the2026 Audi e-tron GTVS 2025 Mercedes EQS

Both the e-tron GT and EQS have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The e-tron GT has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The EQS’ child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.

To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the e-tron GT. But it costs extra on the EQS.

Both the e-tron GT and the EQS have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front and rear side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, post-collision automatic braking systems, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, around view monitors and rear cross-path warning.

The e-tron GT’s corrosion warranty is 7 years longer than the EQS’ (12 vs. 5 years).

Audi pays for scheduled maintenance on the e-tron GT for 3 years and 30,000 miles. Audi will pay for cabin filter replacement, brake fluid replacement, inspections, and any other required maintenance. Mercedes doesn’t pay scheduled maintenance for the EQS.

The e-tron GT has more powerful engines than the EQS:

As tested in Car and Driver the RS e-tron GT performance is faster than the Mercedes EQS:

On the EPA test cycle the e-tron GT gets better mileage than the EQS:

The e-tron GT stops much shorter than the EQS:

For better traction and acceleration, the e-tron GT has larger standard rear tires than the EQS (285/40R20 vs. 255/45R20). The e-tron GT’s optional rear tires are larger than the largest rear tires available on the EQS (305/30R21 vs. 275/40R21).

The e-tron GT’s standard 285/40R20 rear tires provide better handling because they have a lower 40 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the EQS’ standard 45 series tires. The e-tron GT’s optional 305/30R21 rear tires have a lower 30 series profile than the AMG EQS’ optional 35 series tires.

The e-tron GT offers an available active suspension system, which counteracts cornering forces actively, limiting body roll and improving handling and stability. Mercedes doesn’t offer an active suspension on the EQS.

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the e-tron GT is 1.5 inches wider in the front than the average track on the EQS.

The RS e-tron GT performance handles at 1.01 G’s, while the EQS 580 4MATIC pulls only .88 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

The RS e-tron GT performance executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 1.9 seconds quicker than the EQS 580 4MATIC (23.3 seconds @ .93 average G’s vs. 25.2 seconds @ .76 average G’s).

The Audi e-tron GT may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 350 to 750 pounds less than the Mercedes EQS.

The S e-tron GT is 11 inches shorter than the EQS, making the e-tron GT easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

Laser headlights, standard on the e-tron GT Prestige/RS, produce their light by firing blue lasers through phosphorus, a process that uses one-half the power of the EQS’ LED headlights. Laser headlights can have double the range of LEDs with a much smaller surface area.

The e-tron GT has a standard heated steering wheel to take the chill out of steering on extremely cold winter days before the car heater warms up. A heated steering wheel costs extra on the EQS.