The Mercedes G-Wagon Is Going Electric. We Had the First Test Drive
Here’s how the new version of the legendary SUV handles, and everything else you want to know. (Can it drive up a staircase?)
The new electric Mercedes-Benz G-Class goes off-road in October near Graz, Austria. Based on Schöckl Mountain, its proving ground includes miles of trails with gradients up to 60% and lateral inclinations up to 40%.
Source: Mercedes-Benz
We may have Arnold Schwarzenegger to thank for the electric Mercedes-Benz G-Class, colloquially known as the G-Wagon.
In 2018, on stage in front of hundreds of reporters at the debut of the V8 G-Class in Detroit, Schwarzenegger pressed Dieter Zetsche, then head of Mercedes-Benz, to make a battery version of the SUV being manufactured in Graz, Austria, near Schwarzenegger’s hometown. Wearing a black cowboy hat and his signature walrus mustache, Zetsche agreed—although the brass at Mercedes had not thoroughly discussed it.