Easy, I kept saying to myself. “This is so easy.” That became my mantra as I drove the new, electric Mercedes G-Class over absolutely impossible terrain. Through thigh-deep ruts, over rocks I would struggle to surpass on foot, and even through water so deep that the 6,800-pound SUV bobbed and floated as it waded through. It was all so easy, easier than in any G-Class I’ve driven before.
In electrifying the new G, Mercedes raised the bar regarding performance on-road and off. It is a measurably improved SUV. But when I drove that SUV across southern France, over both rugged prealpine terrain and smooth Provençal roads, I couldn’t shake one question: The new G may be better, but is it more desirable?
Maintaining an Iconic Brand
The formal name for the machine is the Mercedes-Benz G580 with EQ Technology, a long and unnecessarily drawn out nomenclature for what everyone will simply call “The electric G.” Building on the same basic ladder frame as other G-Class models, giving it the same rugged underpinnings below and brutalist styling above, Mercedes is making sure that what’s new is still familiar.
And that’s important. The iconic Geländewagen (German for “off-road vehicle”) has been in production since 1979. Though initially developed for rugged, practical and military use, the G has since evolved into an oddly desirable means of haute transport.
Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Källenius told me he calls the G-Class “the Birkin bag of our product portfolio.” As anyone who’s tried to acquire either of these status symbols can tell you, they often come with quite a premium attached.
The starting price on a V8-powered Mercedes-AMG G 63, the top-shelf, high-performance model of Mercedes big and boxy SUV (which will co-exist with the electric G-Class), is over $180,000. Dealers in prime markets, however, likely won’t return your calls until you’re willing to spend about twice that.
That’s a covetous level of desirability for any premium brand, a formula that Mercedes-Benz is cautious about fouling. And given part of the charm of the G 63 is the gut-rumbling thrum of its twin-turbo V8, a switch to electric sounds like a perfect way to spoil the punch.
So, rather than radical reinvention, the all-electric Mercedes G-Class is pretty coy about its EV status. It starts right in the name. Though the title “G 580 with EQ Technology” is long, it actually fits into the established Mercedes-Benz nomenclature. That contrasts with the company’s other EVs, which carry bespoke, three-letter names like EQS or EQE.
Likewise, while Mercedes’ other EVs wear wind-sculpted silhouettes that maximize range while minimizing emotional impact, the electric G 580 appears every bit as boxy as the V8-powered version, with only a few corners subtly rounded in the name of reducing aerodynamic brutality.
Park the EV and V8 versions side-by-side, and you’d be hard-pressed to spot the differences. Even the sound is similar thanks to an interesting feature Mercedes calls G-Roar. As you can guess by the name, it’s a set of synthesized engine tones pumped both inside the cabin and outside. Toni Mäntele, product manager for the G-Class, told me the sound was “inspired by the V8.”
Worried that you won’t turn heads if nobody can hear you coming? Drop the electric G 580 into Sport mode, and it emits a low, characterful thrum that has more than a passing similarity to the G 63. Get on the throttle, and it actually sounds quite pleasant. It’s not exactly loud but offers the auditory presence most EVs lack.
An Electric Transformation
So this is, in many ways, an EV in wolf’s clothing, but take a peek beneath the new G (easy to do given its 10 inches of ground clearance), and you’ll see that everything is radically different. The most noticeable part is a completely flat floor. This carbon-fiber-reinforced pan protects 116 kilowatt-hours-worth of battery pack. That’s about 20 percent bigger than that found in a Tesla Model S, for sake of reference, here providing somewhere around 250 miles of range.
That extra-rugged pack slots nicely between the G-Class frame rails, part of the hallmark construction of this off-roader. That extra protection means the G-Class gives up absolutely nothing when it comes to off-road durability, and thanks to the lack of an engine that needs to breathe, it can wade even deeper into the muck, with a fording depth of nearly three feet.
The G 580 is powered by four separate electric motors, one for each wheel. This is a rare configuration in an off-roader, matched only by the quad-motor flavors of Rivian’s R1S SUV and R1T truck. But Mercedes one-ups the competition by adding four separate two-speed transmissions, again one per wheel.
This effectively gives the G 580 a high-range and a low-range, just like a traditional 4X4, ensuring that all four electric motors will stay in their happy RPM range whether you’re crawling up a rocky slope or cruising down Rodeo Drive.
Thanks to this, you always have maximum grip available, plus the option of doing a few neat tricks when off-road. One is called G-Steering, where the G-Class locks up the inside rear wheel to help it turn sharply. The other, far more entertaining, is G-Turn, where the electric motors on opposite sides turn in opposite directions, spinning the 3.5-ton SUV around like a top. It’s perfect for when uncharted trails end unexpectedly—or when your passengers get bored on the commute home.
It’s those tricks and all that capability that had me chanting my “this is so easy” mantra when driving off-road. When the road ends, the electric G-Class comes alive. It’s supremely capable while also being peaceful and silent. It makes off-roading feel more like exploring nature instead of tearing it apart.
But dirt capability is secondary to suburban desirability, and does the electric G 580 offer the same curbside appeal as previous G-Classes? Mercedes is going out of its way to help would-be customers make theirs as distinctive as possible. “There’s no other Mercedes-Benz product that can be as individualized, as personalized as the G-Wagen,” Toni Mäntele said.
Street Cred
Through the company’s Manufaktur program, buyers have endless custom styling touches they can apply, including nearly infinite paint colors. This ensures that while you may see a dozen other G-Wagens cruising through Malibu, at least none will be the same hue as yours.
Personalization, though, doesn’t necessarily equate to desirability. Only time will tell whether events like the G’s glitzy Hollywood coming out party, in which rapper Travis Scott’s set went so hard he destroyed the roof of a pre-production EQ, have planted a covetous seed in enough influencers to make the electric G the next must-have in the Mercedes portfolio.
I certainly hope it was successful because as retro-cool as the high-power AMG G 63 is, it feels like time we all moved past lusting after things that struggle to deliver 13 mpg.
