2019-11-08 11:45
Mercedes has confirmed it will build an all-electric version of the G-Class off-roader, giving the German brand a new rival for the Tesla Model X and the forthcoming all-electric Range Rover. The news follows Mercedes’s recent internal discussions to axe the rugged 4x4 due to concerns over the feasibility of its electrification.
Mercedes’s Head of Digital Transformation, Sascha Pallenberg, made the announcement on Twitter. He quotes Daimler CEO Ola Källenius as saying, “There will be a zero-emission EV version of the MercedesBenz G-Class. In the past there were discussions whether we should eliminate the model, the way I see things now I'd say the last Mercedes to be built will be a G-Class.”
The German brand is yet to confirm the name of its new all-electric off-roader, but it has filed a copyright for the “EQG” nameplate – a moniker which will likely stick, given the naming conventions of Mercedes’s existing all-electric line-up. Currently, Mercedes’s electric range consists of the EQC SUV and EQV luxury MPV.
Technical specifications for the all-electric Mercedes G-Class are also yet to be announced, but we expect the SUV will pull its drivetrain components from the Mercedes EQ parts bin. Like the EQC, the new EQG could be powered by a pair of electric motors and an 80kWh battery pack, which would provide it with 403bhp, 760Nm of torque and four-wheel drive.
At the time of the second-generation G-Class’s launch in 2018, Daimler’s then CEO, Dieter Zetsche, told Auto Express that Mercedes would electrify its entire line-up by 2022, although electrification was a long way down the G-Class’s priority list due to the potential for low sales and concerns about the added weight of the battery packs.
Zetsche added that hybridisation would be the most likely scenario for the G-Wagon, although recent market developments such as Land Rover’s planned all-electric Range Rover and the new all-electric Fisker Ocean SUV appear to have forced the German brand’s hand towards all-electric drive.
What do you make of Mercedes’s planned all-electric G-Class? Let us know in the comments section below…
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