Mercedes will finally make good on its promise to electrify the iconic G-Class SUV at the Munich Motor Show this September. That’s according to the UK’s Autocar, which claims Mercedes will use the show to premiere a concept that will pave the way for a true production G-Class EV in 2024. Much like the 2019 Vision EQS concept previewed the 2021 EQS you can buy today, the EQG concept will give us some strong cues to how the interior and exterior of a retailable EQG might look.
Mercedes is unlikely to tamper too much with the G’s iconic boxy silhouette, but Autocar says the zero-emissions concept will feature a once-piece front grille, new wheel designs and revised light clusters to make a clear link to the brand’s other EQ cars, and put clear air between it and the current ICE-powered G-Wagens. Inside, we can expect plenty of technology, including multiple digital displays and the latest version of Mercedes MBUX infotainment system, plus the kind of luxury G-Class buyers expect now that the SUV has its utilitarian roots far behind.
The battery and motor technology will come from the EQS sedan, which offers power packs of up to 107.8 kWh, and whose top-spec model sends 516 hp and 631 lbs ft to all four wheels. That should be plenty to haul the G-EV over any kind of terrain, but as Autocar points out, the EQS’s road-biased EVA chassis won’t be suitable for a hardcore off-road machine like the G-Class. Instead, the magazine predicts the EQG will ride on a traditional ladder frame chassis modified to accept a battery and electric motors.
The EQG won’t be Mercedes’ first attempt to prove that EVs can make truly capable off-roaders. Last year it showed the EQC 4×4² concept, which toughened up the EQC SUV with the portal axles from the G-Class 4×4², raising the ride height and dramatically widening the track width at both ends. And neither will the EQG be the the first production electric SUV from Mercedes. The EQA and EQC are already on sale, the EQB has been revealed and will be in showrooms soon, and SUV variants of the EQE and EQS are both likely to arrive before the EQG lands in 2024.
