An icon goes electric: Mercedes reveals electric G-Wagen

Having teased and confirmed its plans for months now, Mercedes-Benz has finally shown off its fully electric version of its trusty old-school G-Class (or G-Wagen), called the EQG Concept.

What’s maybe most interesting about the model is how much of ‘the old’ it retains. This is immediately apparent in the styling, which is still just as slabby and basic as past and present internal combustion G-Wagens.

Although naturally, there are some new touches that showcase you’re looking at a fully electric vehicle.

The new grille is solid, and features the same dot-matrix look as other models in Mercedes’ electric EQ line. The front end in general is more rounded off (rounder bumpers making for a better aerodynamic profile), there’s a set of chunky new 22-inch wheels, and the spare wheel is gone; replaced by a storage space on the tailgate that looks like a charger wall box.

This commitment to old-school looks is more than skin deep. As previously reported and now confirmed, the EQG Concept rides on a traditional body-on-frame platform, meaning it likely performs just as well off-road as standard G-Class variants. The battery has been integrated into the frame.

But, that’s just about all we know about the battery. Mercedes has not revealed how big it is, potential range figures. Power and torque figures weren’t announced, either. Merc did however confirm that the EQG will come with four electric motors, one for each corner, and a two-speed shiftable gearbox. Interesting.

We expected that it won’t struggle in the output stakes, based on the power and torque figures of past EV projects from the three-pointed star, and based on its statement that it will feature “enormous pulling power and controllability”. Expect it to challenge the AMG G 63 for grunt, this one.

Mercedes is calling the EQG a concept for now. But, given how production ready it appears in the imagery we expect the production version to appear more or less the same. Only time will tell.