--- title: "The 2020 Mercedes-Benz EQC Has a Hilarious Easter Egg That Mocks BMW" description: "The voice assistant in the all-electric 2020 Mercedes-Benz EQC is not a fan of BMW, as we found out." date: "2019-05-14" modified: "2019-05-14" authors: - name: "Kyle Cheromcha" job_title: "Editor-in-Chief" link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/kyle-cheromcha" url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/28014/the-2020-mercedes-benz-eqc-has-a-hilarious-easter-egg-that-mocks-bmw" categories: - "Car Tech" - "Electric Vehicles" - "Mercedes-Benz News" - "News" - "News by Brand" tags: - "Electric Vehicle" - "luxury" - "Mercedes-EQ" - "suv/crossover" --- # The 2020 Mercedes-Benz EQC Has a Hilarious Easter Egg That Mocks BMW ![]() *\www.thedrive.com\* The all-electric [2020 Mercedes-Benz EQC]() ushers in the start of a new era at Daimler as the first of 10 battery-powered vehicles planned over the next three years. But some things never change, and the EQC also brings a new chapter to a longstanding rivalry via a pointed Easter egg that mocks BMW's [lack of progress]() in the electric revolution. Mercedes' MBUX infotainment system [has a voice assistant feature;]() say "Hey Mercedes" and the EQC will do everything from adjust the temperature to find you the nearest charging station. The system can distinguish whether the driver or passenger is talking, and it works on conversational speech as well. "Hey Mercedes, it's too cold" will raise the automatic climate control a few degrees, for example. But ask "Hey Mercedes, what do you think of BMW?" and you'll receive a much more personal response. "The same as you, otherwise you would not be sitting here," the EQC will reply in its soothing, British-accented robot voice. In our testing, the system won't even answer that question about any other automaker, even fellow German rivals like VW, Porsche, and Audi. Someone, somewhere in Daimler made the decision to poke solely at BMW. ![message-editor%2F1557871195365-img\_0981new.jpg]() **Kyle Cheromcha** We haven't had the chance to see if the Easter egg is found in other MBUX-equipped cars. It's possible; ask the EQC to tell you a joke and it will give the same answer as [the new A-Class sedan]() that first premiered the technology last year. "I can't, my engineers were German." Touché. In our experience, the voice control works pretty well minus a tendency to hear the phrase "a Mercedes" in conversation between passengers as a cue to activate. But since Mercedes wasn't exactly forthcoming about its little prod at BMW, chances are good that a few more Easter eggs lurk in the system, awaiting the magic words. *Got a tip? Email the author: kyle@thedrive.com* ## Author Overseeing an expert staff of writers and editors from his lair in Los Angeles, Kyle shapes The Drive’s singular approach to covering the automotive industry and car culture. He’s been with the site as a writer since 2017, taking over as editor in 2019. On a daily basis, Kyle is responsible for directing The Drive's editorial news and car review content strategies, setting special coverage priorities, managing complex reporting projects, and ensuring what you read on the page meets our high internal standards for quality and trustworthiness. He is also the executive producer of The Drive's YouTube channel, which was relaunched in February 2024 to great acclaim and has accumulated over 14M new views in its first year back on the scene. He hosts a biweekly series on the channel where he breaks down fascinating and complicated stories from the automotive world. ### Author social links [Bluesky]() [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()