Mercedes-Benz GLF Finally Looks Like A Worthy Tesla Model Y Rival

Let’s face it – Mercedes-Benz has made some blatant mistakes these past few years, especially regarding electrification. Do they have a chance to make amends?
 

Unlike their rivals over in Bavaria, which are making very few dedicated EVs and the rest are based on the same platform as their ICE-powered siblings, Mercedes-Benz wanted to shock everyone with the dedicated Mercedes EQ brand. Well, that pretty much backfired to the point that they’re abandoning it almost entirely.
 
The Mercedes EQ series includes quite a few models – EQA, EQB, EQC, EQE and EQE SUV, EQS and EQS SUV, as well as the EQV and EQT. However, none of them are very interesting or cool. Instead, they’re pretty bland and so little desired that Mercedes is rumored to stop production of many of them.
 
Anyway, the paradigm change is pretty obvious – while the German automaker isn’t abandoning electrification altogether, it’s trying to right the wrongs with the new CLA with EQ Technology, G580 with EQ Technology, and the upcoming GLC with EQ Technology. While the names are a mouthful, they signal a rethinking of the strategy, nevertheless.
 
Also, Mercedes has finally admitted that stuff like the AMG C 63 S inline-four PHEV model was a mistake – according to the rumor mill. Anyway, we’re not here to point fingers but rather to help them make amends, including with a little assistance from a member of the imaginative guild of digital car content creator dwelling across the parallel universes of vehicular CGI.
 
More precisely, Giorgi Tedoradze, the Georgia-based industrial designer better known as tedoradze.giorgi on social media, has a quick CGI idea regarding a new Mercedes-Benz model dubbed ‘GLF.’ This new crossover SUV may look inspired by the shocking Mercedes-Benz Vision V concept, at least at the front, but the rest of the digital treatment is spot on to help the Germans finally rock Tesla’s boat.
 

After all, that was the target all along when they announced the Mercedes EQ brand for electric cars – to rival Tesla, albeit from a truly premium perspective. Mercedes never arrived at the desired outcome – and it’s only their fault that the Mercedes EQE SUV looks so bland and boring that I fell asleep just by looking at its picture (I looked it up, my memory couldn’t summon it for the love of God).
 
However, the subtly wacky styling of the unofficial, hypothetical Mercedes-Benz GLF (with EQ Technology) design project isn’t going to make me doze off yet again. The cascading LED headlights look like the squinty eyes of a very tough EV teacher, and the massive grille emphasizes the three-pointed star in a good way, not like BMW’s hideous creations.
 
The crossover SUV almost looks like a sedan from the front but the rear POV firmly declares it as part of the high-riding category – and we can also see the flush door handles, the vent behind the front wheels, the extra-large alloy wheels, the sloping roof, the stylish boomerang-style LED taillights, or the sporty bumper with an integrated diffuser.
 
All in all, it’s not a bad attempt at making an all-electric Mercedes a true competitor for Tesla – even if we’re dealing only with the lesser Model Y rather than the big (and rather old) Model X. Plus, Mercedes already has cool powertrains for it – they can just borrow them from the ill-fated EQE SUV and hit the upcoming Model Y Performance with the 677-horsepower AMG version. So, what do you think?