Mercedes-Benz G580 First Drive Review

There is a certain appeal to a G-Class. It’s loud, massive, versatile, and a storied brand among storied brands. But if that’s not good enough for you and you want to take the ‘G’ to the next level, then Mercedes has an answer in the form of the G-Class with EQ power. It’s an electric variant of the G-Class, retaining the appeal of the Gelandewagen, but with volts rather than fossil fuel.

Up front, you get the same high, square face but with a blanked-out grille in keeping with the car’s electric nature. There is no change in the profile - you still get the high stance, squared-off wheel arches, and massive wheels with the black package. Finally, the rear remains boxy and tall, with low-set tail lamps that add to the car’s classic appeal.

Having driven the G63 AMG a few months before driving this car, stepping into the cabin of this G580 feels very familiar. Everything looks and feels the same as its ICE sibling, and you can think of it as a modern Mercedes interior layout and elements shaped to fit the G-Class design language.

The wood inserts of the ICE G have been replaced by swathes of high-quality plastic, contrast stitching, and even some carbon fibre. It all comes together to give off retro-futuristic vibes. Headlining the dashboard are dual-digital screens, while the centre console is high but practical. Everything feels premium and falls surprisingly easily to hand. A high roof, tall stance, and large glass house mean the view all around is stellar, making it easy to judge the edges of the car in tight spaces.

In what is otherwise a very competent package, the rear seat experience feels a step behind. It is spacious, no doubt, but has poor under-thigh support and sits higher than the second row. If you recline the front seats, they are at eye-level with the front headrests. Furthermore, the second row seats fold in a split configuration, but their operation is entirely manual. Ingress and egress are also quite poor due to the car’s high stance.

This G580 with EQ power gets an 116kWh battery pack offering a claimed range of 473km. It has four axle-mounted motors that together produce 587bhp and 1164Nm of torque, making this one of the most powerful - if not the most powerful - car in its class (does it even have one?)

It’s not so much about the numbers as how Mercedes has managed to put this down to the wheels that makes the car feel even stronger than it already is. It weighs well over three tonnes, but when you lay pedal to the metal, it zips forward in a ‘face to the sky’ manner, taking your breath away without losing its own. Mercedes claims a zero to 100kmph time of 4.7 seconds, and as you have seen in our social media post, there is no doubt the car can achieve this.

But speed is not the only thing that this car offers in spades; it is a G-Class after all. It’s got the full off-road package and is primed to do anything that the regular G-Class can, with a little extra. You can mud-plug, river-plug, and even pit plug, but all while keeping in mind its weight and the fact that it can pull all that weight, but at the cost of range, which could become an issue if you plan to take the trundle along the road less travelled. The little bit more we mentioned a few lines earlier, well, that’s a party trick called a G-turn. It’s essentially the ability of the car to make a tank turn (left and right wheels spin in opposite directions), which, let’s be realistic, serves little more than to put a laugh on your face and money in the pocket of your tyre dealer. The Continental 275/50 R20 units on our media car are priced in the range of Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 30,000 a pop, an indulgence of the rich and famous, we suppose.

Where the G-Class and this electric G really shine is their ability to make you feel all-conquering, especially if you have bad roads. The ground clearance is high, and with fat rubber on those 20-inch wheels, you don’t have to stop for potholes, speed breakers, or even rutted paths. The car simply gobbles them up without missing a step, and more often than not, you will find yourself open to take ‘any available route’ to beat the traffic.

If you want everything that the G63 AMG offers but with even more torque and EV power, then this is the car for you. It looks like the ‘regular’ G-Class in every way except for the blanked-off grille. In fact, if you got it in the same shade as a G63, you would be hard-pressed to tell the two cars apart if you looked at them from a distance, and that’s part of the appeal. It has all the bravado and macho appeal of a ‘G’ but with a view to the future. At the time of writing this review, the G580 with EQ Power was priced at Rs. 3.08 crore, putting it Rs. 75 lakh under the regular G63 AMG.

Photography: Kapil Angane & Kaustubh Gandhi