Mercedes has decided to bring us an electric G class

[MummyChunk]

I have to admit that the new G class is quite the vehicle. They really
hit it off with the redesign keeping it very true to the original. The
quality of this vehicle as well as other models in the Mercedes lineup
has improved considerably. With all new electric offerings on the
horizon I think that Mercedes has nowhere to go but up up and up.

From AB
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Mercedes-Benz pledged to add over 10 electric cars to its global
lineup by 2022. We've already seen some of them, and we know the
identity of others, but the company surprised everyone by confirming
it could bolster its electric car offensive with a battery-powered
variant of the G-Class.

Sascha Pallenberg, the head of digital transformation for
Mercedes-Benz parent company Daimler, quoted new company boss Ola
Källenius as saying "there will be a zero-emission EV version of
the Mercedes-Benz G-Class" during a speech made at the
Automobilwoche Kongress.

Mercedes could use its hydrogen technology to build a zero-emissions
G-Class, but Källenius clearly stated the upcoming model will be
electric. EQG it is, then, at least if it follows the naming system
used by other electric Mercedes models like the EQC, the upcoming EQA,
and the EQS we discovered as a concept. He didn't reveal when the
model will make its debut, precisely what will power it, or which
markets it will be sold in. Odds are the battery-powered G will be
sold alongside the gasoline-burning (and, in Europe, diesel-powered)
variants rather than instead of them, however.

Electrifying the G will be easier said than done. At nearly 5,500
pounds, the current truck is one of the heaviest cars available new,
and powering it with electricity will bump that figure closer to 6,000
pounds. Moving such a heavy vehicle quickly while giving it an
acceptable driving range will require using a huge battery, which will
in turn add weight; it's a catch-22. Escaping it will entail putting
the G on a diet, and using lighter battery technology. In other words,
don't expect to see it in early 2020.

If this sounds familiar, it's likely because we've been here before.
In 2017, actor and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
asked Austrian firm Kreisel Electric to help him build a late-model,
first-generation G that runs on electricity. He drove the SUV -- which
Kreisel described as a one-off prototype -- around California, but
there's little indication that production started as planned.

It's a small wonder that we're even talking about the G's future. Ten
years ago, the truck looked like a bad hangover from a different era,
and most assumed it was living on borrowed time. Fast forward to 2019,
and its star has finally risen thanks in part to the Hollywood
dwellers, the Russian oligarchs, and the Middle Eastern oil barons who
are addicted to it. SUVs and crossovers outsell sedans, and the
second-generation G-Class represents that branch of the Mercedes-Benz
family so well that the brand considers it one of its most important
icons. Sorry, R-Class fans.

"In the past, there were discussions whether we should eliminate
the model. The way I see things now, I'd say the last Mercedes to be
built will be a G-Class," summed up Källenius.