Wait, This Isn’t AI? The Futuristic Steering Wheel Coming to the New Mercedes-Benz EQS
- Eat Well Feel Well Live Well
- Aug 10
- 4 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
Author: Eat Well · Feel Well · Live Well Editorial Team
At first glance, it looks almost like a futuristic car imagined by AI.
The steering wheel Mercedes-Benz has revealed for the new EQS immediately draws the eye. Instead of the familiar circular shape, it has a compact form with a dramatically open upper section. With the Three-Pointed Star at its centre, it looks less like a conventional steering wheel and more like a sophisticated game controller.
But this is not a design created merely for a concept car.
It is the new shape of steering made possible by steer-by-wire, a technology Mercedes-Benz announced for the new EQS in April 2026.
According to Mercedes-Benz, the system will become available just a few months after the new EQS enters the market, making Mercedes-Benz the first German car manufacturer to offer steer-by-wire in a production passenger vehicle.
Why Does the Steering Wheel Look Like This?
Steer-by-wire uses sensors to detect the driver’s steering inputs and translates them into electronic signals that control the vehicle’s direction.
According to Mercedes-Benz, the new EQS will make the brand the first German car manufacturer to offer this technology in a production vehicle.
But the real significance goes far beyond making the steering feel lighter or easier to operate.
Because the steering response can be adapted to different driving situations, less steering input is needed when parking or manoeuvring in tight spaces, while greater stability can be delivered at higher speeds.
Mercedes-Benz also says there is no longer any need to repeatedly reposition your hands on the steering wheel, as you would with a conventional system.
And that is where the unusual shape suddenly starts to make sense.
With steer-by-wire enabling a flatter, more compact steering wheel, designers gain greater freedom in how the steering interface can be shaped.
In other words, the steering wheel in the new EQS wasn’t reshaped simply to look futuristic. Its distinctive form is the result of a fundamental change in how the steering system itself works.
A Smaller Steering Wheel Changes the Cabin, Too
The changes brought by steer-by-wire go beyond the way the car is driven.
Mercedes-Benz says the flatter, more compact steering wheel creates a greater sense of space around the driver. With the upper rim removed, the driver display is easier to see, while getting in and out of the car also becomes more comfortable.
The difference may seem subtle at first, but it noticeably changes the feel of the cockpit. With less visual bulk directly in front of the driver, the display and surrounding interior appear cleaner, more open and more refined.
Even the Airbag Had to Be Redesigned
Removing the upper section of the steering wheel was not simply a matter of changing its shape.
It created another major engineering challenge.
The airbag.
In a conventional closed steering wheel, the rim helps support and control the airbag’s shape as it deploys.
The new EQS steering wheel, however, has no upper rim.
To accommodate this new design, Mercedes-Benz developed a new airbag architecture specifically for it.
The internal support structure, folding pattern and mounting points were all reworked so that the airbag can deploy in a stable and consistent position, even without the upper section of the steering wheel.
Redesigning the steering wheel meant redesigning the airbag, too.
That alone makes it clear that this is far more than a cosmetic update.
Steering by Electronic Signal — But Is It Safe?
Linking the steering wheel to the wheels through electronic signals naturally raises one important question: what happens if something goes wrong?
According to Mercedes-Benz, the new steer-by-wire system has already completed more than one million kilometres of testing, including test benches, proving grounds and full-vehicle validation on public roads.
Alongside high-precision sensors and powerful control units, the system uses a redundant architecture with essentially two independent signal paths.
Mercedes-Benz also states that, even in the highly unlikely event of a complete system failure, lateral vehicle control can still be maintained through the rear-axle steering and targeted, wheel-specific braking interventions via ESP®.
The new EQS will not rely exclusively on steer-by-wire, either. Mercedes-Benz will continue to offer conventional electromechanical steering as an alternative.
140 Years On, the Way We Drive Is Changing
It has been 140 years since Carl Benz filed the patent for his Motorwagen in 1886.
Mercedes-Benz is marking 2026 under the theme “140 years of innovation.”
Against that backdrop, the arrival of steer-by-wire is about far more than adding another piece of technology.
A steering wheel is round. You turn it to change direction.
For generations, those ideas have felt almost inseparable from the act of driving itself. Steer-by-wire has the potential to rethink not only those familiar movements, but the very design of the car around them.
Look only at the first image and it is futuristic enough to prompt the question: “Wait, this isn’t AI?”
But this is no longer an imagined car of the future.
The next chapter of driving envisioned by Mercedes-Benz is already becoming reality.
Editor’s Note
At first glance, the steering wheel developed for the new EQS looks almost too futuristic to be real — more like an AI-generated concept than something destined for the road.
But its striking shape is there for a reason. With steer-by-wire, Mercedes-Benz is rethinking far more than the steering wheel itself: the way the car is driven, the sense of space inside the cabin, and even the architecture of the airbag.
Mercedes-Benz says the technology will become available for the new EQS a few months after the model’s market launch. Availability may vary by market and vehicle configuration.
We take a closer look at the technology behind one of the most striking changes coming to the EQS.
