after a slow start electric vehicles are starting to really take off according to cox automotive new car sales were down 20in the second quarter of this year compared to the year before but battery cars were way up accounting for 56of sales in the period us ev sales were 196788 which is a 13increase from the first quarter ford which is starting to deploy the gamechanging f150 lightning saw ev sales soar 14 suddenly everyone wants evs it helps that the cars are getting a whole lot better and that is amply demonstrated at the top of the market with two cars recently tested—the bmw ix xdrive 50 suv us95720 as tested and the mercedesbenz eqs 450 sedan us107389 let’s start with the bmw the ix is the bavarian company’s electric flagship based on the vision inext concept first shown in 2018 styling isn’t its strong point—the ix is a conventionallooking boxy suv but with that huge kidney grille we know from the 4series of course it’s not really a grille—evs don’t need engine cooling so it’s there for show but boxes are typically roomy and the ix cabin is welcoming the huge front legroom is really helpful the driver faces a digital instrument panel 123 inches and center screen 149 inches that effectively run together there is 36 square feet of cargo volume which is pretty darn good and that’s without a “frunk”—the hood is to be opened only by qualified personnel the test car featured the standard 18speaker harmonkardon infotainment system but a 30speaker bowers  wilkins is available a us4000 premium package on the test car is maybe an unnecessary expense but it does add features such as multifunction seats and parking assistance the car lacks interior door handles an electrically operated button opens the portals the fivepassenger tworow ix makes an excellent highway cruiser with combined power of 516 horsepower and 564 poundfeet of torque on tap it’s quite fast with foursecond zero to 60 times possible the power is from two axle motors producing grippy allwheel drive it’s certainly not a lightweight car with a curb weight of 5707 pounds and that’s why bmw fitted a huge liquidcooled 1052kilowatthour battery pack the upside is an estimated 315 miles of range and the downside is long recharge times unless you use a dc fast charger bmw doesn’t include a 110volt charger because well it would take forever if you could somehow locate a 200kilowatt public charger you can gain 93 ix travel miles in 10 minutes or from 10 to 80 charge in 35 minutes but on an 11kilowatt 240volt home charger it takes 11 hours keep in mind though that your car is unlikely to be discharged to 10 in average driving an even faster m60 version of the ix is coming but the ix xdrive50 is the one you can buy now the mercedes eqs 450 offers many of the same virtues as the bmw with the added incentive of truly knockout styling this electric version of the sclass is curvy and futuristic in appearance like a show car you can buy today the concept is similar to the ix luxury and long range but the eqs comes in three versions the eqs 580 4matic starting at us119110 is the closest to the tested ix with 516 horsepower and 611 poundfeet of torque from twin electric motors it can hit 60 miles per hour in just 37 seconds that version is worth considering certainly but the 450 as tested has a single electric motor on the rear axle with 329 horsepower and 419 poundfeet of torque it’s still plenty fast at 55 seconds to 60 the sclass is traditionally thirsty but this battery version is epa rated at 97 miles per gallon equivalent mpge again it takes a big battery to move large luxurious cars—in the case of the eqs 1078 kilowatthours the 450 has 350 miles of range 340 for the 580 and again it seems with regeneration to unspool slowly drivers are going to start forgetting it’s an electric car and take it on long trips like the bmw the car can be quickly fastcharged at 200 kilowatts dc fast charging from 10 to 100 takes only 31 minutes with 200 kilowatts at home with a level 2 ac 240volt charger it’s an 1125hour experience its going to be tempting to order the topoftheline 580 but the 17footlong 450 is a very good driving experience—fast quiet maneuverable and excellent handling thanks in part to its 10degree rearaxle steering and adaptive air suspension the car benefits from many of the upgrades on the conventionally powered sclass cars the cabin is airy so visibility is excellent—except for a blind spot because of the thick bpillars and certainly the cabin isn’t lacking in luxury the seats are both comfortable and supportive with lots of legroom and the controls easy to use once you get to know them—“park” on the shifter can be confused with the windshield washer available on the eqs is the hyperscreen stretching across the front of the cabin—clearly the future of incar tech—but the standard dashboard is just fine the tester had such addons as rapidheating front seats us1050 active ambient lighting us450 and the interior assistant us350 plus points include a really cavernous trunkhatch with electric assist a roomy back seat an extensive suite of standard safety technology and an excellent burmester surroundsound system that was friendly with apple carplay if you want even more there’s the mercedesamg eqs with up to 649 horsepower and a boost function that takes it up to 751 it starts at us147500