The EQS SUV’s pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The Model Y doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.
In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the EQS SUV are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Model Y doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
The EQS SUV’s standard pretensioning seatbelts also sense rear collisions and remove slack from the seatbelts to help protect the occupants from whiplash and other injuries. The Model Y doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.
To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the EQS SUV. But it costs extra on the Model Y.
When descending a steep, off-road slope, the EQS SUV’s standard Downhill Speed Regulation allows you to creep down safely. The Model Y doesn’t offer Downhill Speed Regulation.
Earlier warning of stopped traffic, traffic signals, dangerous road conditions, weather, or accidents, can keep driver's safer and prevent crashes. The EQS SUV has Car-to-X Communication, a system that seamlessly communicates important warnings to the driver about impending danger, if they're available. The Model Y doesn’t offer a system that can receive automated systems from infrastructure or other vehicles.
The EQS SUV has standard Mercedes-Benz Emergency Call, which uses a global positioning satellite (GPS) receiver and a cellular system to remotely unlock your doors if you lock your keys in, help track down your vehicle if it’s stolen or send emergency personnel to the scene if any airbags deploy. The Model Y doesn’t offer a GPS response system, only a navigation computer with no live response for emergencies, so if you’re involved in an accident and you’re incapacitated help may not come as quickly.
Both the EQS SUV and the Model Y have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, front seat center airbag, side-impact head airbags, front and rear 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, rear cross-path warning and driver alert monitors.
The Mercedes EQS SUV weighs 1907 to 2474 pounds more than the Tesla Model Y. The NHTSA advises that heavier vehicles are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts.

