Mercedes GLE 350 De: Efficient Heavyweight

2023 Author: Eric Donovan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-08-25 09:36

Plug-in hybrids and SUVs are under discussion. Now Mercedes is launching the GLE 350 de with an electric range of over 100 kilometers. Can the SUV meet expectations?

So this car is supposed to stand for sustainable mobility: because of its weight of almost 2.5 tonnes alone, you don't want to make this connection. The differences seem too big. But if you equip an SUV with a diesel and a plug-in hybrid like the Mercedes GLE 350 de Coupé, this contradiction can at least be partially resolved.

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Sure, you don't have to like an SUV. One can and should discuss whether it makes sense to be out and about in town with him. It is not, especially not in big cities. The use of local public transport (ÖPNV) makes far more sense here. And if you don't want to do without a car, then you should use a small car, ideally an electric one.

But many customers continue to buy these cars. The SUV segment continues to boom. At the car manufacturer Daimler, more than a third of all sales are now for such vehicles. Ascending trend.

A consumption of less than 5 liters in everyday life

The man who is responsible for this segment at Daimler as the series manager is Andreas Zygan. He understands these discussions and faces them. There would already be a large number of electric cars today, he says: “But the customer does not buy them to the extent one hopes.” Although a purely battery-electric vehicle now has a range of over 400 kilometers, even that is enough Not customers, even if they could use it for most of their journeys. They want “to continue to have the freedom to drive everywhere without restrictions.” A car like the GLE 350 de offers them this freedom - and not just on paper.

The 31.2 kWh battery enables a purely electric range of 106 kilometers (NEDC). Zygan is convinced that there is a range that can increase the acceptance of this technology: it gives customers security and takes away their fear of range. The GLE 350 de, which is powered by an efficient four-cylinder diesel and an electric motor with a system output of 320 hp, is advertised with a consumption of 1.1 liters.

Well, such consumption values are lacking in reality - this is no different with the GLE either. But even if this SUV falls short of this figure, it is a positive surprise in the end. Because after the two-day test drives, he achieved an average consumption of 2.85 liters with a driving profile on the motorway, country roads and up and down the mountains.

Additional weight of 390 kilograms

The first section from Innsbruck to Hochgurgl was completed in hybrid mode with a consumption of 5.5 liters, the second section in electric mode with 0.2 liters (15.5 kWh). On arrival in Innsbruck, the battery still showed a remaining range of 41 kilometers after 102 kilometers. We set off at outside temperatures of 0.5 degrees with 88 kilometers. With the air conditioning off, we would have had ten kilometers more available. But who wants to freeze in the car in winter?

Of course, this consumption results from the route profile: the GLE was able to recuperate when driving downhill. But for such a trumpet of cars, that is a value that one does not expect. But what if I drive long distances on the motorway? What consumption can I expect then? After all, the electric drive brings it to an additional weight of 390 kilometers. It is six to seven liters, says Zygan.

Charging has to become something everyday

What is possible in everyday life with the GLE 350 de is shown by Zygan's daily journey of 84 kilometers from his home in Karlsruhe to Stuttgart: In hybrid mode, the series manager consumes 4.6 liters. “When I get home in the evening, the on-board computer still shows me a remaining range of 30 kilometers.” But a plug-in hybrid only makes sense if it is regularly charged by the driver Zygan points out several times. The shop simply has to become something everyday.

Zygan hopes to counteract the contradiction of increasing SUV sales and the poor image of this vehicle type by offering a sustainable drive system like the one in the GLE 350 de Coupé (its price has not yet been determined, but should be in the region of 76,000 euros). With it you can accompany customers on their way to e-mobility.

SUV sales continue to grow

That is also necessary. A study by the Center Automotive Research (CAR) at the University of Duisburg-Essen, published at the end of November, assumes that by 2025 more than 50 percent of new cars will be SUVs. This development may sound threatening to one or the other, "but it is not", according to study author Ferdinand Dudenhöffer.

“As strange as it sounds, more SUVs are an opportunity to implement e-mobility more quickly in Germany.” Because the EU's strict CO2 limits ensure that manufacturers are forced to offer their SUVs either with a hybrid or as a pure electric car. Manufacturers are obliged to reduce their CO2 limit to 95 g / km by 2021. Failure to do this can result in fines.

That could be the lowest common denominator that can be found with critics of SUVs: If it is an SUV, then only one with an electric drive.