Extra Geländepanzer than Geländewagen, the brand new electrical G is a galvanizing different to the fire-breathing AMG. However from the surface, the G580 with EQ Know-how doesn’t seem all that completely different from its army progenitor. Except for the elective Black Panel radiator shell ($1,300) that adjustments the entrance grill, and the Design Field ($0) that replaces the spare tire with an enormous AirPod case, the G580 seems nearly equivalent to the G550. There isn’t any bull bar out there for the electrical G, however its general silhouette and stance haven’t been graphically sterilized or handed by an EV filter both.
Beneath that matte white dermis is the place the true variations lie. 4 electrical motors, 4 transmissions, 4 wheels, and one battery – if that’s not a large enough headline for you, then likelihood is you’ve got doomscrolled your self into oblivion. This digital ensemble produces 579 hp and 859 lb-ft of torque, permitting the G580 to dash from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.7 seconds, solely three-tenths slower than the G63 AMG and sufficient to maintain up with a GLC43. An electrical motor is mounted close to every wheel and operates independently to ship tailor-made torque, permitting for articulate management and the removing of bodily differentials. Every motor additionally will get its personal two-speed transmission. Hearsay has it that if you happen to minimize the G580 into 4 equal slices, every can function as its personal particular person EV.
What in regards to the G’s iconic differential locking buttons, then? They’ve been changed by buttons that homeowners will really use, every enabling particular modes: G-Steering, Low Vary, and G-Flip, the latter of which spins the automobile 360 levels on its axis, offering the closest civilian expertise to an M1 Abrams. Three-point turns should not stronger than time, it appears, however tank turns are. G-Flip requires a couple of inputs, like coming into a cheat code in your PlayStation controller, and a comparatively unfastened floor, however the reward is limitless giggles and uneven tire put on.
Somebody honking at you? G-Flip and retaliate with your individual horn. Have to run a science experiment? G-Flip on the north pole and see if it spins in the wrong way. G-Turns additionally give “don’t make me flip this automobile round!” a brand new that means. However, G-Steering is off-road particular, and it varies the torque despatched to every particular person wheel to cut back its turning radius and enhance maneuverability.
The G580 nonetheless makes use of a sturdy ladder body chassis however with an impartial entrance suspension and a stable rear axle. The entire battery structure is mounted above the ladder body, and Mercedes has added bracing and safety to make sure it may possibly stand up to the stresses and scratches of rock-crawling duties. We wouldn’t need any electrical fires on a forested path, would we? Finally, that is probably the most overengineered automobile we’ve ever pushed, and nothing was left off the desk. However all of the tech begins so as to add up, leading to a planetary curb weight of three,085 kg, the heaviest automobile we’ve ever examined right here at CAR. The G580 basically instructions its personal orbit, weighing greater than two Toyota GR Corollas stacked on high of one another, and eclipsing the G63 AMG by a whopping 445 kg. These poor tires.
You’d anticipate a shameful electrical vary, however we achieved a powerful 398 km on a full battery cost, greater than distinctive in what is basically a highway tank with the drag coefficient of a brick wall. Maybe shedding that spare tire on the rear did some good in any case.
We by no means develop bored with listening to these bolt-action door-lock mechanisms in motion, such as you’re opening the gates to a safe financial institution vault. It additionally implies that shutting the door correctly requires a good bit of power; you’ll have to educate your passengers to slam it with out worry of breaking it, however no one ever will get it proper on their first strive. In contrast to earlier fashions, the G580 now options keyless entry. Nonetheless, we dislike the lock knob protruding precisely the place your elbow rests on the door sill, and once you wish to exit the automobile, the door handles are awkwardly positioned and hidden at knee stage, so it takes some leg shuffling to uncover them. On the intense aspect, the absence of steaming side-mounted exhaust pipes means you gained’t sear your shins as you exit from the rear.
As soon as inside, you might be greeted with a lavish inside lined with costly cowhides on the seats and even the steering wheel’s airbag cowl (in contrast to the last-gen W463 G550). You may go additional with the Manufaktur Full Leather-based Package deal ($16,000), which layers Nappa leather-based with diamond stitching on each floor, from the roof pillars and ceiling to the entrance seatbacks and journal pockets. Improve it with a splash of purple or brown leather-based to make it really stand out. The rear lodging are the identical because the G550, the rear home windows nonetheless don’t roll down all the best way, and there are some low cost plastic areas, such because the keyfob and the passenger-side window swap panel, wanting misplaced subsequent to the blue carbon fibre and metallic Burmester audio system covers.
Yorkville or the Bridle Path could also be its pure searching floor, however the G-Wagen now wafts in silence and reservation slightly than pomp and circumstance. This stately carriage is exceptionally snug, and it swallows compressions with out ever hitting the bump stops. On glassier surfaces, the journey is so pillowy and faraway from the highway that you simply begin feeling remoted, each bodily and acoustically, particularly with out that signature eight-cylinder thrum. Whereas the G580 emits faint spaceship noises which were synthesized on a pc, it provides a bass-filled musical backdrop to each faucet of the accelerator pedal.
The G580 nonetheless squats, pitches, and lurches when requested extra of it, and it wants time to settle, however the anticipated refractory interval is short-lived, and its weight penalty over the G63 is barely noticeable once you kick down the throttle at speeds above 120 km/h. The strategic placement of the battery has allowed the G to higher maneuver tight areas, including a deftness to the steering and a calmness to its ongoing negotiations with divots and cracks on the highway. These upgrading from a last-gen G will discover its spacious cabin and extra outstanding highway manners well worth the upcharge. And whereas slower to speed up on paper, the G580 feels faster than any G63 we’ve got pushed, probably because of the rapid thrust of these quad motors that combustion engines simply can’t replicate. What’s most spectacular is that whereas the setup is nearly alien and totally managed by strains of code slightly than sentient engines, the ensuing connection is not any much less complicated, overseas, or synthetic than the common G550.
Which begs the query: combustion or electrical? The anachronistic G63 AMG could also be extra pricey to function, however the best way it burbles and rumbles on idle like a belligerent conflict drum, and the way it leaves a thunderstorm in its wake whereas accelerating, is nothing wanting addicting. The electrical G580 neuters some, not all, of that imperiousness and replaces it with church-like decibel ranges, absurd consolation, and neat tips to point out off to your mates. Nonetheless, it doesn’t thrill us the best way an AMG V8 does, and it lacks that unwavering sense of event on each ignition start-up.
However simply having that selection is already a privilege, as each are honest love letters to G-Class fanatics. Who would have dreamed 45 years in the past, when the unique G was conceived, {that a} superfluous battery-powered model can be out there to the general public, not to mention be a pirouetting assertion piece for high-net-worth people with a inexperienced conscience?
Mannequin: 2025 Mercedes-Benz G580 with EQ Know-how Version One
Paint Kind: MANUFAKTUR Opalite White MAGNO
Base Worth: $206,000
Worth as Examined: $237,000
Wheelbase(mm): 2,890
Size/Width/Top (mm): 4,624 / 1,913 / 1,986
Curb weight (kg): 3,085
Powertrain: 4 electrical motors, 116-kWh battery
Horsepower: 579 hp
Torque: 859 lb-ft
Transmission: 2-speed transmissions (one on every wheel)
Engine & Drive Configuration: Entrance engine, 4WD
Noticed Vary: 398 km
Tires: Falken Azenis FK520; 275/50R20
