Mercedes unveils 2025 electric G-Class, with 4 motors and tank turns

However, this feature is more of a toy, just for fun. Mercedes also has a G Steering feature, which is a sort of mini version of G Steering, which will help you make extremely tight turns by activating torque vectoring to help you make tight turns (although unlike at the EQS, this is not the case). have rear wheel steering).

The G580 can climb up to 100% grade (45°) and remain stable on side slopes up to 35°, ford 33.5 inches of water (6 inches deeper than the gas version), with 9.8 inches of ground clearance, 32° approach angle. , departure angle of 30.7º and breakover angle of 20.3º, with independent double wishbone suspension at the front and a De Dion solid axle at the rear.

To help you see where you’re going, the G580 has a “transparent hood” feature, which uses a camera to show what’s in front and under the car on the internal screen. This is important for off-roading because if you go over a crest or something and can’t see under the hood, the clear hood can help you see where you’re going.

But it’s also a Mercedes, which means it’s stylish inside. And the 2025 model will be particularly refined, since it is only available in EDITION ONE version with many exclusive interior and exterior touches. But you will be able to customize the car the way you want through Mercedes’ MANUFAKTUR car customization process.

So whether you’re conquering a real jungle or just the concrete jungle of… Rodeo Drive, or Las Vegas for the latest cryptocurrency convention, you’ll feel right at home in the Mercedes G-Class.

That fancyness is certainly necessary to justify its price, which Mercedes has yet to release but has said will be “in range” of that of the G63 (which starts at around $180,000).

The G580 is smaller than the gas-powered G-Class. At 182″, it’s about 10 inches shorter, but just as tall (78″) and just as wide (76″). It shares the same 113.8-inch wheelbase as the gas model.

Otherwise, the exterior shares the boxy design of the gasoline version. Unlike many EVs, it doesn’t adopt a particularly curvy exterior and still has a textured grille area.

The decision to stick with a traditional-looking grille goes hand in hand with Mercedes’ recent decision to add a “more classic grille option” to its EQS. And it turns out that if you want the G580 with the traditional G-Class grille, you can just get the standard grille, straight from the gas version, if you prefer it (but you don’t get those cool lights ).

And overall, Mercedes said it was very important to keep the overall design of the G-Class, so it hasn’t been changed to make it look electric, aside from some grille changes and a few aerodynamic bits. .

Mercedes claims the vehicle has “optimized aerodynamics”, which has been certainly a main design intention of this vehicle which consists of straight lines only. But actually there have been some small changes, like a slightly modified A-pillar and a strip above the windshield to smooth out the front edge of the roof.

Coming to the details on its electric propulsion capabilities, the aforementioned 4 motors can reach 60 mph in around 4.6 seconds and reach a top speed of 112 mph/180 km/h. These aren’t the fastest numbers, but the car isn’t meant to be a race car – Mercedes could have gone for a bigger battery or more power, but that would have involved other compromises elsewhere, and Mercedes stated that this was the case. it’s much more important to focus on the whole package.

Mercedes hasn’t given us a range number yet, but with a 116 kWh battery and an even flatter face than its electric triangle competitors on wheels, we can imagine it somewhere in the mid-200s. That’s 473 km on WLTP, or 293 mi, but WLTP is a little more lenient than the EPA figures.

Even more important than overall range, Mercedes says the G-Class will charge on DC from 10 to 80 percent in 32 minutes, with a peak charging rate of 200 kW (and an AC charging rate of 11 kW). This corresponds to an average charging rate of around 150 kW DC over the entire session, which is quite reasonable.

Given the car’s massive 116 kWh (usable) battery, it still doesn’t charge as fast as a Hyundai/Kia E-GMP car, but it’s still pretty good compared to other large EVs (the G580 weighs ~6,800 lb/3,805 kg, with a GVWR of exactly 3,500 kg – the maximum allowed by German law).

The G580 comes with 5 regenerative braking settings, including the Mercedes “D-auto” setting, in which the car intelligently decides to apply regenerative braking based on traffic conditions (we recently tried this setting on the eSprinter , but we had a hard time finding a situation where it would be useful). Regeneration activates without a throttle, suggesting the possibility of single-pedal driving, but we haven’t had a chance to try it out and see if its maximum regenerative braking capacity of 217 kW is really strong enough to Avoid most uses of the brake pedal.

For a final, cool electric touch, the car did something new with its iconic rear end. In place of the spare wheel holder that usually adorns the rear of the G-Class, there is an optional compartment that can be used to store charging cables or the like. You can always opt for the spare tire, but I really like the cargo box.

Electrek’s point of view

Look, it’s a G-Class. It’s a statement car, it’s an image car. If you like it, you know you like it. For the majority of drivers, its off-road capabilities won’t really matter.

What matters here is whether it stays true to the G-Class, and as far as we can tell, it does. It looks like a G-Class and it sounds like a G-Class. The doors closed like a G-Class.

And an important note: Mercedes said: “If the G can go electric, any car can go electric.” Of course, we agree. This is a car that has been defined in many ways by excess, with the gasoline version only getting 14 miles per gallon. And yet, here it is, in an electric version, with a huge battery (but not out of step with other huge electric vehicles), beating the performance of the gasoline version on and off road.

As for the name – even though “G580 with EQ Technology” is a bit long, I actually like the simple “G580” designation. People will surely call it “the electric G-Class” or whatever, but by giving the car a regular model name, Mercedes is saying it’s treating the car like a regular car.

Instead of siloing electric vehicles into their own sub-brand, Mercedes says that it’s a G Classand if you want a G-Class, it’s a G-Class. Mercedes has made it clear that this is not a rational vehicle and its customers don’t think so need a G Class, they to want a G Class.

So this is it. If you want a G-Class, it’s a G-Class.