Price+Spec news for SA – Mercedes-Benz GLE500e plug-in hybrid SUV

GLE500e plug-in hybrid Mercedes SUV

While the BMW X5 xDrive40e eDrive and Volvo XC90 T8 TwinEngine have been hogging the limelight (and the news that the C350e plug-in hybrid will be produced here in SA), Mercedes-Benz silently added its own plug-in hybrid SUV:  the Mercedes-Benz GLE500e.

Based on the recently-introduced GLE (the ML facelift, if you need reminding/clarificaion) the 500e is the hybrid addition, and indeed the first locally-available Mercedes SUV hybrid.

No, the 500 is not the traditional Mercedes V8:  the GLE500e engine is a 3.0 turbo V6 supplemented by an electric motor, and the battery is rechargable through a plug (i.e. a plug-in hybrid).

Combined system power delivery is 325 kW, while the full 650Nm torque is available through almost the entire rev range.  It is the same powertrain that debuted on the S500e late in 2015.  In the GLE500e SUV, the claimed combined test cycle figure is 3.3 (three point three) litres per 100km, with 78 emissions grams.

The price is just under the GLE500 V8:  the Mercedes-Benz GLE500e costs R 1 247 600.  The V8 and hybrid are matched on zero-to-100 acceleration, at 5.3 sec.