Mercedes-Benz GLE Plug-in Hybrid: America Is Missing Out
Made in USA. Not sold in the USA. Shame, even though that SUV loses to a Chinese product when it comes to battery capacity.
Mercedes has delayed the US launch of its all-electric SUV, the EQC. According to what was announced last October, Mercedes is going to focus on high-end, high-margin vehicles (shocking). If someone wonders what can be a high-end, high-margin vehicle if a luxury SUV is not — the answer is: an all-electric Mercedes S-Class. It’s called the EQS, it’s based on its own platform, not shared with the ordinary S-Class, and it’s the model with which Mercedes’ EQ electric sub-brand plans to enter the US market (not counting Smart cars sold with EQ branding earlier). The EQC SUV, sold in Europe since 2019, will need to wait.
But the EQC is not the only electrified SUV that Mercedes decided to sell in Europe but not in the US. Behold the Mercedes-Benz GLE plug-in hybrid.
Am I getting this right: Mercedes makes this PHEV in the US, but does not sell it in the US?
In the US, the carmaker does not even offer a hybrid option on it. But in Europe, it is available as a PHEV with a large, 31.2 kWh battery. In Germany, over the course of the last year, that PHEV variant grew from being a small percentage of the sales to being about 50% of all Mercedes GLE sales.
And that large, 31.2 kWh battery is what makes Mercedes’ offering stand out among PHEVs, which are rapidly gaining popularity in Europe.
PHEVs are generally crappy when it comes to battery capacity. The BMW i3 REx — yes it fits the definition of a PHEV — is an exception. The Chevy Volt was the second best one, among the popular models at least, so naturally it was killed by GM some time ago. In general, manufacturers seem unwilling to equip PHEVs with batteries that would be large enough to turn them into useful electric cars (with the internal combustion engine used just for emergencies, or trips into EV-unfriendly territory). And one of the traditional reasons why — that these cars were not designed as EVs from the ground up, so there is limited space for batteries — does not hold for many models, especially those built on newer platforms. I’m sure you could turn the current Peugeot 208, which is sold both as an internal combustion engine car and as an all-electric one, into a PHEV with a monster battery (well, “monster” by PHEV standards) by keeping most of that 50-something kWh of battery the all-electric variant has, but adding a tiny engine and a tiny fuel tank, BMW i3 REx-style. Replace the electric motor with a smaller one and rearrange the equipment under the hood, if needed. Oh, and balancing the weight between the axles (FWD electric cars usually have a heavy battery over the wrong axle) becomes less of a problem.
The reason we need larger batteries is not (not only) the longer range; it’s the faster charging speed. In the Audi e-tron, with an adequate public charger, you can get 62 miles/100 km of range by charging the car for 10 minutes. You can drive such a car even if there’s no way to charge it at home (because, for example, you live in an apartment block). But try to do the same with a typical PHEV… the charging speed is at least a few times slower.
There are two variants of the GLE plug-in hybrid: one with a gasoline engine and one using a diesel engine. Mercedes offers a similar choice with its E-Class plug-in hybrid sedan.
There are two body styles too: an ordinary SUV and a “coupe” SUV (something like the BMW X6).
The vehicle charges from 10% to 80% in 20 minutes, so its average charging speed in that state-of-charge window is around 60 kW. Which is excellent for a PHEV.
31.2 kilowatt-hours of battery capacity don’t actually mean that much in that heavy, bulky beast of an SUV. Its all-electric range is, according to the WLTP norm, only 56–61 miles (90–99 km). But that’s still much more than any other plug-in hybrid SUV achieves.
Except one.*
The Chinese Lixiang One (call it a plug-in hybrid or a range-extended vehicle) combines a small gasoline engine with a 40.5 kWh battery. It actually sells quite well: over 32,000 units last year. It also happens to be a luxury SUV of similar size to the GLE.
And yes, of course it’s cheaper than the Mercedes.
*One that I know of. Maybe there are already others.
