Mercedes-Benz has revealed an electric concept version of its boxy luxury off-roader, the G-Wagen, dotted with glowing accents and wearing some seriously moon rover-style wheels.
Officially known as the Concept EQG, Mercedes-Benz was really light on details about the electric SUV while showing it off at the 2021 IAA Mobility show in Munich. It didn’t cite estimates for range, or mention battery size, or the power output of the electric motors. It will be all-wheel drive, though, and it will have a low and high gear. Also, those wheels are 22 inches.
Instead, the Concept EQG is right now closer to a design exercise — a first attempt at how Mercedes-Benz may modify the new generation of the G-Class that it first revealed at the 2018 Detroit Auto Show, and something to gawk at until a production version comes.
It’s a striking first attempt, though. The EQG is clad in the same kind of two-tone paint job that Mercedes-Benz used on the first editions of its electric EQS sedan. The illuminated grille the company has been toying with on some other concepts and production vehicles finally doesn’t look so out of place.
Whenever a production EQG does arrive, it’ll join an ever-crowded field of electric vehicles that can handle rough terrain. General Motors revived the Hummer brand and is making two all-electric versions of it: an SUV and a pickup truck. EV startup Rivian is about to launch its first pickup truck, with an SUV coming later this year. Ford has even teased that an all-electric version of its newly-revived Bronco SUV will eventually hit the road.
The G-Wagen has always been as much of a status symbol vehicle as it is about venturing off-road, though, so expect the production EQG to be loaded with all the same kinds of features that Mercedes-Benz has been rolling out in its newest, most expensive vehicles, like the EQS sedan. And if Mercedes-Benz can give the EQG the same kind of range and performance that its EQS and EQE sedans are getting on the company’s new electric vehicle platform, the electric G-Wagen could be something to behold.
