Electric Mercedes-Benz G-class is by far the cheapest

‘Mercedes-Benz G 580 with EQ Technology’. That is the extremely complicated way in which Mercedes, which often makes strange choices when it comes to names, distinguishes the electric G-class from the versions with a combustion engine. The electric G-class is equally interesting, and not only because its 587 hp and 1,164 kg make it almost as fast as the brutal Mercedes-AMG G 63. The moving box of blocks weighs 3,085 kg and even under favorable WLTP conditions 28, We ignore the 9 kWh consumed per 100 km because a G-class was never bought for its low consumption anyway. Now that we are talking about weights, it is good to note that Mercedes does not (yet?) mention a towing weight for this G-EV. Anyone who hoped to pull a heavy load with this (albeit briefly) will be disappointed for the time being.

Also an option instead of a spare wheel or a bare hatch: the ‘Design Box’ for your charging cable.

When the ‘G 580 with EQ Technology’ was introduced, a price was already mentioned by Mercedes, but it was €200,303 for the fully loaded introductory version Edition One. The regular version is now also in the configurator and is a lot less expensive at €149,967. In the Netherlands, this is even by far the most affordable G, with a gap of about 45 grand compared to the diesel-fired G 450d. For a complete picture: a G 500 costs €200,681 in the Netherlands, while the brutal G63 is the most popular version in our country, despite its price tag of €304,709, according to Mercedes. Prediction: the new EQ version will change that. By the way, such an AMG costs ‘only’ €193,579 in Belgium, which means that in the Netherlands you will be penalized with over a hundred thousand euros for the purchase of this mobile CO2 factory. A G500 will cost you €137,214 in Belgium, a G450d €126,929.

This flashy, illuminated black panel grille is optional.

On the outside, the standard version of the G 580, such as the optional blue copy in the images, is hardly recognizable as an EV. The typical black ‘Black Panel’ grille from the press photos is optional, there is ‘simply’ an open grille as standard in the Elektro-G. An important difference is that the EQ does not have a spare wheel on the back as standard. You can still have this installed if you wish (and after an additional payment), but a ‘Design box’ for your charging cable, for example, is also possible here. Or nothing at all, that is. For the rest, the appearance can largely be decorated as with any other G, including the option to have the roof, bumpers and wheel arch extensions finished in black. An AMG Line package with sporty trim is also available.

With the optional spare wheel, the electric G is barely distinguishable from a petrol or diesel version.