What happens when you take an extremely popular and profitable product and make an electric version? Mercedes-Benz has the answer, and it isn’t good. According to the German business newspaper Handelsblatt (subscription and a grasp of the German language required), Mercedes executives themselves have outright admitted the electric version of its G-Class SUV is a failure, with one anonymous suit saying,
“The car is sitting like lead at dealers; it’s a complete flop.”
Ouch. The German publication looked at the sales figures and determined that just 1,450 units of the electric G-Class have been sold since it went on sale a year ago. The standard G-Class, available with both gas and diesel engines, has achieved 9,700 sales in the same period. Cue the sad trombone.
Why Is The Electric Mercedes G-Class Failing?
Mercedes has recently had issues trying to get its customers to accept a different version of their favorite models. The AMG C63, for instance, has been received poorly thanks to it switching from a V8 engine to a 4-cylinder. Likewise, people seem to like their G-Class with all the capabilities that come with a gas engine. As another Mercedes exec put it, “People want a real G-Class – with six or eight cylinders.”
An electric powertrain severely hobbles the G-Class in a couple of key areas. The first is range. Due to an excessive curb weight that crests 6,700 pounds and having the aerodynamic profile of an Amazon box, the electric G-Class has a range of just 239 miles. Compare that with rivals in the U.S., such as the Cadillac Escalade IQ, which can go 460 miles per charge.
Then there’s price. In the U.S., a standard G550 with a hybrid-assisted 3.0-liter inline 6-cylinder engine starts at $148,250. The Electric G-Class, meanwhile, with its excesses and limitations, starts at $161,500.
It’s not just that the Electric G-Class costs more when new. Generally, EVs suffer much more depreciation than gas-powered vehicles. Just look at used prices for a Porsche Taycan or Mercedes’ own EQS sedan. The standard G-Class has long been considered a champion of low depreciation, holding its value far better than the average car or SUV. It’s too early to tell if the same resistance to depreciation will rub off on the Electric G-Class, but history is not on its side. That said, famed digital auctioneer Doug DeMuro wants one and believes it will depreciate like a regular G-Class and not an EV.
TopSpeed’s Take
The Electric G-Class has a fatal flaw, which is that it wasn’t designed from the ground up to be an electric vehicle. Instead, it shares its platform with gas- and diesel-powered variants. Anytime that happens, compromises must be made, and because the standard G-Class is such a hit for Mercedes, it’s safe to say those compromises didn’t often fall the electric version’s way.
The most obvious compromise with the Electric G-Class is the size of its battery. At 116 kWh, the pack isn’t small, but it’s not big enough for a vehicle this large, heavy, and un-aerodynamic. That’s why its range is far lower compared to the towering numbers of GM’s electric luxury SUVs, which also happen to cost tens of thousands of dollars less.
Is there a way to fix the Electric G-Class? We’d recommend starting from the ground up on a dedicated platform that’s optimized for an electric powertrain. Unfortunately, Mercedes is abandoning that strategy after it didn’t work with its EQS and EQE lineup of electric sedans and SUVs.
The other solution is to find more range. More battery modules won’t fit, so Mercedes may have to wait until the power density of new battery chemistries improves enough to increase range without also increasing the physical dimensions of the battery pack. Will Mercedes have the patience to stick it out with the Electric G-Class in the meantime, though?
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