Mercedes-Benz GLC Electric Pre-Production Review

The electric version of the world’s best-selling Mercedes is to be unveiled in its production form at this September’s Munich motor show, but we’ve already had a detailed walkaround of the new EV with Mercedes boss Ola Källenius, as well as a drive of the pre-production car at a test track.
 

It’s a hugely significant car for Mercedes, not only because the GLC was its top seller in 2024, but also because the car debuts fresh technology and introduces a new strategy.
 
It replaces the EQC, which has already gone out of production. Although it wears a GLC badge and has a lot of crossover with the combustion-engined car, it sits on a different platform. The same approach will be taken by the new electric C-Class that is soon to be unveiled and the E-Class that will follow in a couple of years.
 
Mercedes chief executive Ola Källenius told us: ‘For the foreseeable future, maybe the next 10 years, we think the market will be split. If you’re faced with that, during that 10 years, maybe more, you have to have a portfolio that caters to both groups. To make that handle-able from an investment point of view and a complexity point of view, you need to have a very strong strategy.’
 
To bring the necessary flexibility, different cars – combustion and electric – can be built on the same production line. And more hidden components and software are shared between models.
 

The GLC uses a new 800-volt platform, designed specifically for EVs. The wheelbase is longer than the combustion car’s by 48mm, and it’s slightly longer overall, but it’s no narrower or taller. The roofline is the same, but it’s clear that the nose is different, despite the distracting disguise.
 
Other versions will be available, but the pre-production model we were shown around and drove, the GLC 400, has two e-motors, all-wheel drive, rear-wheel steering and air suspension.
 
Our car’s unfinished interior was part-disguised, but it is broadly similar to the combustion car’s. Källenius said a pillar-to-pillar three-screen dashboard would be available, with the passenger able to watch movies not visible to the driver. It’s a similar user interface to the new CLA’s.
 
There are charging pads for two phones at the front of the centre console, and a stylish new version of Merc’s familar seat adjusters on the doors. Two of the most-used controls on the steering wheel – modes on the left, volume on the right – are physical knurled rollers, not haptic sliders.
 
The boot is the same size as the combustion car’s at 560 litres, but there’s also a 100-litre frunk. The lengthened wheelbase brings much-expanded rear legroom, and the headroom is good too.
 

The 94.5kW battery, with new cell chemistry, is claimed to give a range of over 400 miles, and has 320kW-plus charging capability that can, it’s claimed, add 186 miles of range in 10 minutes.
 
The e-motors – one at the rear in some versions, one at each end in all-wheel-drive versions – are derived from those used in the ultra-efficient EQXX experimental two-seater. The braking system is new, combining four-level recuperative braking with drive-by-wire operation of the discs and physical back-up.
 
On the road, driven by Källenius, the car is smooth, refined, rapid when asked, and remarkably similar to the combustion GLC – just quieter. We got our chance to drive it on the Einfahrbahn test track at the Sindelfingen plant, and found it to have responsive and nicely weighted steering, excellent stability from the air suspension and rewarding acceleration when you floor the throttle. Deceleration is also seamless – you don’t spot the transition between systems. There are Sport and Eco powertrain modes as well as the very agreeable default Normal.
 
It will initially be made at the Bremen factory in Germany, but is expected to also be produced in China, and Merc’s Tuscaloosa factory in the USA is also a possibility.
 
Kallenius said: ‘I’m ever so slightly biased, but I think it’s a fantastic addition to our portfolio. If electric sceptics would take a couple of hours to drive it, they couldn’t not be thrilled.’