The Mercedes-Benz G-Class is hugely revered in the German car-maker’s line up, so much so it exists as a sub-brand, opposed to a mere model line. It is understandable, then, that the team in Graz, Austria, who produce the G-Class are hugely protective of it.
That’s why, when the board at Mercedes-Benz suggested that the G-Class should be reimagined as an electric SUV known as the EQG, there were a few doubters. Among them was Emmerich Schiller, CEO of the G-Class, who noted that for one of his vehicles to qualify as the real deal requires it to be able to conquer a 2,000km off-road test route around the tortuous tracks that criss-cross the Schöckl mountain near Graz.
To find out how this legendary car could be turned into an electric off-roader, we hitched along for a first look at a prototype EQG, a chat with the people who are responsible for building it, and a dizzying passenger ride.
A Bespoke Chassis and Four Electric Motors
The aforementioned 2,000km route is not only a test that separates true off-roaders from mere SUVs, but it would be ruinous to any kind of electric car, even one with with some off-road capabilities. Which is why the EQG doesn’t adopt one of the company’s existing EQ platforms with its electric G-Class. Instead, Schiller and his team have engineered the G-Class's ladder frame chassis to incorporate the batteries and four (four!) electric motors that are required to turn it into the EQG.
The real difficulty isn’t the powertrain itself, admits Schiller, but protecting the batteries, which aren’t known for liking water, dust, or great big rocks thumping into them. The sealing and protection of the batteries has been one of the biggest engineering challenges, then, with the cells needing to be housed in a safe, torsionally stiff casing. As a result, the battery actually forms a structural element within the ladder frame chassis. Schiller is happy to demonstrate how robust the battery casing is by deliberately dropping the EQG prototype he’s driving to crunch down forcefully on a rock, before letting it slide down over it.
Riding in the 2024 Mercedes EQG
We’re off-road, not in Austria, but in France, at another of Mercedes-Benz’s preferred test tracks for the G-Class. Usefully, it’s also where the company launched the present G-Class back in 2018, so we know just how tough the routes around here are. Schiller’s doing the driving today, because we’re in a prototype of the G-Wagen electric that we’ll need to wait until 2024 to see in production guise. Unsurprisingly, Schiller and his team are being incredibly tight-lipped about the any specs or details of the drivetrain in relation to battery technology and motor power and output. But from the point of view of seeing if you really can make a proper electric G-Class, our ride-along is proving very revealing.
The EQG’s four electric motors are divvied out at one per wheel. That was the best solution to allow the EQG to achieve its lofty off-road goals, though one that’s not without a great deal of complication. Schiller was involved with the four-motor AMG SLS Electric Drive project in a previous role at AMG, and understands the complexities of using four motors better than most.
2024 Mercedes EQG Power Output
Ask for the power outputs for those motors and – at this stage – the engineers won’t divulge any information. But with the EQG’s closest EQ relation, the EQS 4Matic SUV, packing 400kW of power via two motors it’s not unreasonable to expect the EQG to have in the region of 450-500kW, and quite possibly more. Certainly, when discussing weight with Schiller and his team their poker faces slightly drop when I suggest a figure around 20-30% higher than the regular V8-powered G500, which would bring it close to 3,000kg. That’s heavy by any standards, but at no point in our passenger ride did the four wheel motors feel like they might be struggling. Indeed, for such a heavyweight, the EQG feels rapid, as well as ridiculously capable off road.
On the precipitous tracks that climb up and down the valley, the EQG concept clambers and crawls over the ever more horrific topography with an imperious ease that’s genuinely remarkable. There’s a photographer-carrying G500 Professional driving ahead of us, and while it’s getting around it’s evidently not having as easy a time of it as we are in the EQG.
Experiencing the ‘G-Turn’
The engineers confirm that the individual motors are hugely advantageous for serious off-roading. The instant torque obviously helps, as does the fact that each comes with its own low-range transfer ‘box, along with a creeper mode within the numerous EQG specific drive modes. The ability to divert power to the wheel that can best utilise it gives the EQG off-road potential that’s arguably greater than any of its combustion-engined relations. Electrification here might be a necessity then, but what the EQG demonstrates is that it’s also an opportunity.
That’s demonstrated than when Fabian Schossau, Chief Engineer G-Class & eDrive, demonstrates the car’s ‘G-Turn’ button. Pressing it (which can only be done when you’re off-road), results in the wheels on the opposite sides of the car rotating in different directions, which in turn allows the EQG to rotate in its own length, much like the way a tank turns on its tracks. It’s a great party trick, hilarious to witness from outside, and quite frankly dizzying to experience from the passenger seat – and it also serves to demonstrate just the level of control those four wheel motors bring. Tantalisingly, there’s a second button too, although that one remains covered by a black panel for now...
Battery Options
Schiller and his engineers are similarly quiet about the capacity, energy density, and chemistry of the EQG’s batteries, although if they’re dipping into the EQ parts bin it’s almost certain that the EQG will have the 108kWh battery pack that features in the Mercedes EQS SUV and its EQS saloon relation. It’ll certainly need a big battery to counter its weight and less-than-slippery form (the G-Wagen’s angular shape, including that flat grille and spare wheel mounted on the rear door are present and correct), with the G-Glass’s boxy proportions not well suited to the pursuit of economy. With the 108kWh battery, a range in excess of 300 miles should be possible, although it’s also known that Mercedes is currently developing batteries that should pack around 20% more power, with the EQG rumoured to be the first potential recipient.
EQG 560 and EQG 580
What is known is that Mercedes has registered both EQG 560 and EQG 580 as names, which nods to the possibility of the higher density battery being offered on the latter, and a slightly less power dense version fitted to the former. Regardless, what is certain is that whatever battery the production EQG features, owners will be able to undertake a rapid 10-80% charge in around 30 minutes if they can find a suitably powerful charger. Impressively, too, during our lengthy ride in the EQG, under the heavy stresses of off-road crawling and faster on-road driving, the digital indicator revealed the car had only used around 7-8% of the battery’s charge. This was no doubt helped by the way the heavy draw of tough uphill climbs was partly paid back with the potential for serious regeneration on descents steep enough to make you glad of a seatbelt to stop you falling headfirst into the windscreen.
Early Takeaway
From our brief taster it’s clear that despite some initial reservations from within the company, an electrified G-Class can be very convincing. It will go where few other vehicles dare, much like any G-Class, only without a V8 and in almost complete silence.
None of which will come cheap, of course, especially considering the G-Class is already an expensive machine and adding batteries and four electric motors will only add to that. Our guess is that it’ll cost more than the current range-topping Mercedes-AMG G63, which would mean in the region of £200,000. Not that we’d expect there to be any shortage of customers lining up to buy one what could turn out to be one of the most capable off-road production SUVs there’s ever been.