Why we chose the EQS, and only the EQS.

When we sat down to specify the fleet, the conventional wisdom was clear: run a diesel S-Class. That is what every chauffeur company in the country does. We did the opposite.

The chauffeur industry, taken as a whole, is more conservative than its clientele. Most operators run an ageing diesel Mercedes-Benz E-Class or a tired V-Class people-mover, on third or fourth ownership, and call it executive travel. The arguments for doing so are familiar — range anxiety, unproven residuals on electric vehicles, the perceived risk of a charging infrastructure that does not yet match motorway service stations.

The arguments are, as of 2026, mostly no longer true.

The vehicle itself

The Mercedes-Benz EQS is what happens when Mercedes builds a fully electric flagship without trying to disguise it as an S-Class. It is a different shape, a different drive and, in cabin experience, arguably a better car. It is — uncontroversially — quieter than a diesel S-Class. It accelerates more smoothly. The cabin is more refined. The rear executive seating package is genuinely impressive.

It also has over 400 miles of range, which is more than any plausible day’s chauffeur work demands. The longest journey we run regularly — Newmarket to Heathrow and back — is roughly 200 miles round-trip with the option of a fast charge at either end if needed. We have not yet had a day where range was the limiting factor.

What it does for the client

The visible benefit of an electric vehicle, from the back seat, is the silence. There is no engine note when you’re trying to take a confidential call. There is no idle vibration when the chauffeur is parked outside a meeting. The acceleration is instant and entirely effortless — you arrive at the next destination in a noticeably better state than you would in a diesel saloon.

The less visible benefit, but increasingly the more important one, is what it means for the corporate client’s reporting.

On Scope 3 emissions

For a growing number of our clients — legal, financial, technology, recruitment — supplier ESG credentials are part of how procurement decisions are made. Scope 3 emissions reporting is no longer a niche concern; it is increasingly part of how serious businesses contract for services. An electric chauffeur partner makes that decision easier and provides the auditable journey data to back it up. Our quarterly journey reporting includes mileage, route and zero tailpipe emissions per traveller and cost code — suitable for inclusion in formal reporting.

That is not a marketing claim. It is increasingly a procurement requirement.

Why one car, not several

We could have specified a small fleet — an EQS for the executive work, a V-Class for groups, perhaps a Range Rover for the country-house circuit. We chose not to. Operating a single vehicle, well, is more honest than operating three vehicles indifferently. It also means that every journey is the same: the same car, the same standard, the same chauffeur experience. There is no bait-and-switch.

This is not the cheapest way to run a chauffeur business. It is, we think, the right one.

— The team at Cavendish