High-end off-roader gets an EV variant with a motor for each wheel and a big battery
If it looks like a G-Class, drives like a G-Class and sounds like a G-Class (more on that later), then it probably is a G-Class. The first electric G-Class – or, to use its clumsy proper name, the Mercedes-Benz G580 with EQ Technology – sits alongside the regular Mercedes G-Class as well as the Mercedes-AMG G63 and Merc really wants you to just see this as a G-Class first and a powertrain variant second.And you know what? The Stuttgart firm has nailed it. It has even objectively improved the formula in some areas. The EV version is certainly a lot torquier than the G63, quieter than the regular G-Class and better off road than either.But we’re really not looking at the most objective, straightforward or sensible car in the world here.Its buyers are pretty tough to pigeonhole. There aren’t many people looking for an electric car that’s also an off-roader designed to look like something from the 1940s.But when you open it up to the broad electric SUV class, the BMW iX is similar money, yet wildly different in outlook, while the Mercedes EQS SUV is an interesting interpretation of luxury that shares the same showroom.Enthusiasts after off-roading ability with a boxy body (but not necessarily an EV powertrain) are well catered for by the Land Rover Defender and Ineos Grenadier.
