Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Cars
  3. News

Mercedes-Benz’s brawny G-Wagen will get an electric makeover

Stephen Edelstein
By
2019 Mercedes-Benz G550
Bradley Iger/DIgital Trends

The boxy, heavy Mercedes-Benz G-Class is a throwback to a bygone era, when off-road capability was more important in an SUV than connectivity or gas mileage. Yet this backward-looking Benz, known to fans as the G-Wagen, will soon get an electric powertrain.

Ola Källenius, CEO of Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler, confirmed the electric G-Wagen in a speech at the Automobilwoche Kongress in Berlin, Mercedes spokesperson Sascha Pallenberg said in a tweet. However, no other details have been given. Mercedes plan to launch 10 electric cars by the end of 2022, but it’s unclear if the electric G-Class will be among them.

Recommended Videos

The G-Class could get a plug-in hybrid powertrain before it goes all-electric. Motor Authority noted that the plug-in hybrid powertrain Mercedes’ AMG performance division is currently developing would be a good fit for the G-Class. That powertrain will reportedly be based around a twin-turbocharged V8 and produce 805 horsepower. That may seem like an absurd amount of power for the truck-likethe  G-Wagen, but the SUV has gotten AMG’s most potent powertrains in the past, so why stop now?

Mercedes recently gave the G-Class its first redesign in roughly 40 years of production, but made sure to preserve the SUV’s old-school charm. It keeps the squared-off look fans love, but on the inside Mercedes fitted a modern infotainment system, including the option to fit two 12.3-inch screens side by side. Under the hood, Mercedes stuck with traditional V8 engines, including a 577-hp version in the AMG G63 performance model. Going from that to an electric powertrain will be a major change.

Yet an electric G-Wagen already exists — it’s just not made by Mercedes. An Austrian company called Kreisel Electric, which specializes in electric powertrain components, built one for Arnold Schwarzenegger. The company offers the same conversion to regular customers, complete with an 80-kilowatt-hour battery pack and an electric motor for each axle, good for a combined 482 hp. It’s part of a growing trend of fitting existing internal-combustion cars with electric powertrains.

An electric G-Wagen produced by Mercedes itself could have some competition in the form of an electric Hummer. A recent report claims General Motors is thinking about reviving Hummer as an all-electric brand, using the same platform GM is developing for an upcoming electric pickup truck.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Stephen Edelstein
Stephen Edelstein
Contributing Editor
Stephen is a freelance automotive journalist covering all things cars. He likes anything with four wheels, from classic cars…
Mercedes-Maybach EQS SUV is old-school luxury — electrified
Front three quarter view of the Mercedes-Maybach EQS SUV.

Mercedes-Benz is preparing for an electric future with its EQ models, a line of EVs with futuristic aerodynamic styling and all of the latest infotainment tech. With several EQ models already in production, Mercedes is shifting focus to more traditional luxury.
The Mercedes-Maybach EQS SUV is the first all-electric vehicle from Maybach, the ultra-luxury subbrand of Mercedes. It takes the EQS SUV launched in 2022 and bathes it in opulence, adding more chrome on the outside and more creature comforts on the inside.
Scheduled to go on sale in the U.S. this fall, the Maybach is an unusual EV proposition, taking what is supposed be a forward-thinking design and wrapping it in old-school luxury. Ahead of its launch, Digital Trends got an up-close look at the Maybach EQS SUV to see how Mercedes is trying to balance those two aspects.

Germany's Rolls-Royce goes electric
The Maybach name has great historical significance for Mercedes. Wilhelm Maybach was one of the earliest automotive engineers. He designed the first Mercedes-branded car for the Daimler company (now Daimler-Benz), but struck out on his own after a falling out with company management. His eponymous company built Zeppelin engines, luxury cars, and, during World War II, engines for German military vehicles.
Daimler-Benz took control of Maybach in the 1960s, but left the passenger-car business dormant. Mercedes then revived the Maybach name in the early 2000s as a competitor to the likes of Rolls-Royce and Bentley, both of which are owned by rival German automakers. Given Wilhelm Maybach's history with Mercedes, it essentially brought things full circle.
The 21st-century Maybach brand started out with standalone models in the form of the Maybach 57 and Maybach 62 sedans (as well as the stunning Exelero prototype), but production ended in 2012 amid dwindling sales. Mercedes then switched to making Maybach-branded versions of existing models like the S-Class sedan and GLS-Class SUV, a pattern that continues with the Maybach EQS SUV.

Read more
Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV first drive review: ’90s look, cutting-edge tech
Front three quarter view of the 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV.

Mercedes-Benz is one of the oldest automakers in existence, but it's been among the quickest to launch a lineup of electric cars. It may not have the freshness of a startup, but what it does have are actual cars to sell to customers.

The 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV is the middle child of Mercedes' electric SUV lineup, slotting between the entry-level EQB and the flagship EQS SUV, and targeting electric luxury SUVs like the Audi E-Tron, BMW iX, and Cadillac Lyriq. Like the EQS, the EQE SUV is based on an existing sedan, hence the "SUV" suffix. In a previous first drive, we found the EQE sedan to be a good balance between luxury and livability, giving the SUV version a lot to live up to.

Read more
Mercedes is finally bringing an electric van to the U.S.
Front three quarter view of the 2024 Mercedes-Benz eSprinter electric van.

Mercedes-Benz might be known for luxury cars, but it also makes vans, and it's finally bringing an electric van to the United States.

Scheduled to start production this summer, the 2024 Mercedes-Benz eSprinter is an all-electric version of the Sprinter full-size cargo van that's already a favorite of delivery services like FedEx and Amazon, as well as camper van converters. While the automaker has been selling electric vans in Europe since 2010, the new eSprinter is the first one aimed at the U.S. market.

Read more