New Mercedes G 580 with EQ Technology ride review: on the road in the electric G-Class

Verdict

Our experience with the electric Mercedes G-Class has underlined that its on-road performance is as good as its off-road credentials. Weighty but accomplished, a battery-powered G-Class might be anathematic to some, but there’s no doubting it’s authentic, and impressive, too.    

It’s been a long time coming, but Mercedes is readying its electrified G-Class for reveal in the coming weeks. Having ridden around a tough off-road course in it previously, we’re now in it for a second time – on the ice lakes and snowy roads of Sweden. Mercedes remains tight-lipped about many details, but even so, this near-production-ready prototype ride is very revealing.

Sweden is a favourite place for winter tests; its ice lakes perfect for testing stability and traction control systems, and, usefully with the battery-powered G-Class, its durability in extreme temperatures. Mercedes has finally revealed official WLTP consumption figures for it (2-2.3mi/kWh), which should give a range of around 235-270 miles from its anticipated 118kWh battery. That would be in perfect conditions, but during our 180-mile drive route in sub-zero temperatures, the battery-powered G-Class performed flawlessly.  

Along with its consumption figures, Mercedes has confirmed that the new plug-in G-Class will be called the G 580 with EQ Technology, rather than EQG as first assumed. While the name’s a bit of a mouthful, it does reveal where the new electric G-Class sits within the model line-up. It’ll be positioned above the G 500 and G 450 d models, heading the regular production models, but sitting below the forthcoming AMG 63 model.