First Drive: The All-Electric Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen Is a Jouncy, Unruly Ride Even at Low Speeds

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The all-electric Mercedes-Benz G 580 SUV has abundant off-road capabilities but disappoints when it comes to its overall ride experience.

. This is a category to which—as the owner of a 1990 Range Rover Classic, and the former owner of a pair of 1980s Jeep Grand Wagoneers—I’ve long been attracted. Yet I found that, despite my best efforts, I couldn’t marshal sincere adoration.: its obvious and unslakable thirst for petroleum. But as a 579 hp, nearly 7,000-pound chunk of planetary resources, it’s about as green as a vinyl redwood, and also far more likely to become a deathly cudgel if crashed.

Withholding access to this suspension seems illogical, even for the actual “entry-level” G-Class, the $143,000, 416 hp G 550 V8, which we also drove. With around 1,500 pounds less weight than its electric counterpart, the G 550 wobbles on the road only as much as an over-medium egg yolk, but can still use some help in tractability.

The G 580 can wade through water up to 33.5 inches in depth, six inches more than what conventionally powered G-Wagens can handle.This made zipping up and down the boulder-strewn, rain-soaked, sludgy foothills of the Pyrenees as simple as pressing the Off-Road Crawl button. Aside from occasional throttle and steering inputs, the G 580 figures out the rest, knowing which tires have hold and which are floating in midair.

The “G Steering” button is slightly more practical, and significantly less stomach-turning. When you depress it and saw hard at the steering wheel, the function locks the inside rear wheel and over-rotates the outside ones, allowing the 15-footto pivot around tight corners like a Smart FourTwo pulling a handbrake turn. This would be super handy if you’re ever autocrossing in an Amazonian tributary, or trying to pull into a “compact” spot in a flooded Trader Joe’s parking lot.

 

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