High and Mighty Mercedes Popemobile

Mercedes-Benz has been supplying cars to the Vatican for almost a century. For the past 45 years the Popemobile has been part of Vatican life. They have all been based on the Mercedes-Benz G-Class. 

Now, for the first time, the Popemobile is electric. Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Källenius and team members involved in its production made a handover of a modified G 580 recently. It will be used shortly for the 2025 Jubilee, an event that takes place just once every 25 years.

At the handover, Källenius thanked Pope Francis and all those involved, saying: “With the new Popemobile, Pope Francis is the first pope to be travelling in a fully electric Mercedes-Benz when making public appearances. With this Popemobile, we are also sending out a clear call for electromobility and decarbonisation.” 

A team of specialists from Graz, Sindelfingen and Rome worked together for around a year creating the one-off machine. 

The electric drivetrain of the new G 580 with EQ technology was adapted to fully utilise the advantages of the four near-wheel motors. These not only enable slow journeys at public appearances but the quad motors make a G-Turn possible. This is a 360-degree turnabout on low-friction surfaces. Whether or not the Pope gets to use this feature is unclear.

In the rear, the bench seat makes way for a centrally positioned and height-adjustable single seat that swivels. There are of course armoured glass enclosures for the pontiff. The tailgate was removed for easy entry and exit from the rear.

Like the previous Popemobiles, the vehicle is painted in classic pearl white on the outside.

It is ironic that the Popemobile is another Mercedes because it is the result of Fisker’s failure to deliver a Popemobile based on its Ocean electric SUV. It promised a new ride for the Pope in 2021 but was unable to deliver because it went out of business midway through this year.