electric G 580 steals the show

Mercedes-Benz has once again updated its most gloriously impractical vehicle: the G-Class. The 2025 model sees subtle evolutionary changes, but the real eyebrow-raiser this year is the all-new G 580 – the first fully electric G-Wagen. Yes, Mercedes put batteries in a barn door and somehow made it work.

At a Glance

Nostalgic touches with modern tech
Gasoline version off-roads like its legend promises
EV model is smoother than expected
If you have to ask about the price tag, you can’t afford it

The Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen is the SUV equivalent of giving a Viking a smartwatch. Yet somehow it’s highly appealing and makes perfect sense once you experience it.

Let’s start with what hasn’t changed: the G-Class still looks like a refrigerator on wheels. It still rides on a ladder frame, still features bolt-upright styling that laughs in the face of aerodynamics, and still retains the off-road gear-head cred that made it a legend in the dirt long before it became a valet fleet mainstay in Beverly Hills.

The climb-in for the 2025 Mercedes-Benz G Wagen is pretty high, but the solid thunk of the doors reminds you that there's a reason for that — The climb-in for the 2025 Mercedes-Benz G Wagen is pretty high, but the solid thunk of the doors reminds you that there’s a reason for that

The old school thumb-button door handles on doors that require a good slam to properly shut is a nostalgic touch that takes the G-Wagen from “luxury car” to “tough luxury” in one simple design choice. The upright posture, high climb-in height, and heavy low-speed handling top-off that impression. But everything else is 100% modern. Technology is high-end and even cutting edge, comforts are plentiful, and road noise is almost non-existent. It’s a great combination of old and new.

Even better, the gasoline G 550 I drove had all-terrain tires on it, which meant I got to take it into the wilderness a bit – something most G-Wagens almost never do in real life. So for a week, I drove it around town like my last name is Schwarzenegger and occasionally took it into the Wyoming bushlands for some dirt and mud time. It was awesome.

For 2025, the gas-powered G 550 gets a 3.0-liter inline-six with a mild hybrid assist and 443 horsepower (326 kW). This makes it smooth, competent, and more efficient than before; though “efficient” here is relative. And yes, the AMG G63 is back with its fire-breathing twin-turbo V8 and a license to shred both tires and good judgment. Vehicle Stability Control will be your friend with that one.

But for me, the G 580 is where things got interesting.

On paper, an electric G-Class sounds like a contradiction in terms. This would be adding an electric drivetrain to what is basically a brick on wheels. Now it’s a heavy brick on wheels. That doesn’t seem like an efficient combination. And it’s not. That wasn’t Mercedes’ goal. It aimed for something else.

The G 580 keeps the traditional G-Wagen body and ladder frame but swaps in four electric motors (one at each wheel) for true torque-vectoring and a rated 579 horsepower (426 kW) with 859 lb-ft (1,165 Nm) of twist. This makes the G 580 the smoothest, most comfortable, and most power-delivery-predictable of the Gs. And it’s glorious.

Under the hood and engine cover of the Mercedes-Benz G 580 is a lot of complicated-looking hardware

It weighs nearly 7,300 pounds (3,311 kg), of course, but the G-Wagen EV still hits 60 mph (96.5 km/h) in under 5 seconds. Because why not?

The G 580’s 116-kWh battery is integrated into a reinforced underbody designed to take off-road punishment, and Mercedes says it delivers about 240-ish miles (386 km) of range, per the EPA. And, like most EVs, a bit less in the real world. It supports fast charging up to 200 kW, so juice-ups aren’t terrible … unless you’re in a place like Moab, where a charger is harder to find than a Starbucks in Death Valley.

Here’s where the electric G goes full sci-fi: thanks to those four independent motors, it can literally rotate in place. Mercedes calls it the “G-Turn”, and it’s like a tank spin for the TikTok crowd. It’s absurd, unnecessary, and hilarious. So it’s perfect.

There’s also a “Creeping Mode” for low-speed off-roading and software-based trail helpers that simulate locking differentials without the mechanical complexity. Combine that with its 33.5-inch (85-cm) water fording depth and steep approach angles, and the G 580 is a serious off-roader, just one that runs on electrons instead of dinosaur juice. Sadly, the one I drove for a week had bland summer tires instead of A/Ts, so it was an off-road nobody as a result. But it was fun spinning it around in circles on a dirt road.

Regardless of powertrain, the 2025 G-Class has a properly luxurious interior. You get Mercedes’ latest MBUX infotainment system with dual 12.3-inch screens, a digital off-road display suite, and the kind of ambient lighting that makes it feel like a gaming PC at the Ritz. Add in the Burmester 3D surround system and some Ozzy’s Boneyard and things are pretty great inside the G-Wagen.

The 2025 Mercedes-Benz G-Class lineup walks the line between outrageous and oddly practical. Assuming your definition of “practical” includes clearing boulders and scaring sports cars in a straight line. The combustion models remain unapologetically brash, while the new G 580 offers a surprisingly authentic G-Wagen experience without liquid fuel.

It’s still more of a statement than a sensible choice – but that’s the point. The G-Class was never about blending in. It’s about commanding attention.

Electric or otherwise, the G-Wagen is a flex. It’s just that now, one of those flexes comes with no tailpipe and a rotating party trick. And the price? Nothing below six figures, so if you have to ask, you probably can’t afford one.