Love it or hate, the Mercedes-Benz Gelandewagen is an icon of the motoring world. But even icons need reinventing and the boxy SUV is now electrified. The Gelandewagen EV made its world debut at the 2024 Beijing International Auto Show.

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A New Era

The Gelandewagen EV will be sold alongside petrol-powered derivatives. The G580 boasts the company’s latest EQ technology. The bruiser has a one electric motor per wheel. The four motors produce total system outputs of 432 kW and a massive 1 164 N.m of torque.

Those figures make it even more powerful than the twin-turbo V8 G63. As a reminder that car offers 430 kW/850 N.m. Mercedes’ press material states that the behemoth has a fully charged range of 473 km from a 116 kWh battery pack.

Click here to check out our dedicated electric-vehicle section.

Tank Turns

Using one motor per wheel allows the Gelandewagen EV to perform tank turns, or ‘G-turn’ in Merc speak. This effectively allows it to turn “almost on the spot”. Other new functionality includes a 850 mm wading depth, a three-speed intelligent off-road crawl function and intelligent torque vectoring. The vehicle can also remain stable on sideways slopes of up to 35 degrees.

There is no indicative price for SA, but we have it on good authority that these will be heading to our shores in the not-too-distant future.