This meaty G-Wagon can sprint, climb mountains and do cool party tricks.
Yes, I know there is only one Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon you want, and that’s the AMG G63. But hear me out, this all-new electrified G580 is really, really, good. And being an Edition One model makes it even better!
Right off the bat it looks as mean as anything the AMG G63 offers you but with all sorts of cool add-ons that only a limited-edition model can bring you. I would need way more space to talk you through all the bits and pieces of this MANUFAKTUR South Sea Blue Magno example we tested, so I will let your eyes do that for me.
What is of more importance in a road test is how does it drive? Can it really go off-road? How much “fuel” does it use? And how fast is it? The short answers are: Okay. You bet. None. And very.
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Not scared of getting down and dirty
Running on 20-inch AMG 10-spoke alloy wheels, and being aerodynamically shaped like a 3 085kg brick, which it is, with a substantial ride height, the on-road handling and feel of the Mercedes-Benz G580 is perhaps as you would expect. It’s not made for a track or mountain pass breakfast runs. This G-Wagon wants to go to the coffee shop on a Sunday morning.
Off-road is where it will surprise you most. I honestly think this G580 will go almost anywhere a Toyota Land Cruiser can go. And for a premium Mercedes-Benz riding on road tyres this is saying a lot. It will at least go as far up the side of a mountain any normal human would want to take a vehicle that doesn’t have a Toyota badge on the front.
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The Mercedes-Benz G580 is a purely electric vehicle. There is a 116-kWh battery driving four individually controlled electric motors that are integrated into the ladder frame chassis, that are situated close to the wheels. Each of these electric motors offer 108kW of power and 291Nm of torque. For those that don’t want to do the maths, this a total output of 432kW and 1 164Nm.
Mercedes-Benz G580 no slouch
Think of any serious off-road bits and the G580 has them too, albeit in very easy to use virtual format. What this means is that instead of mechanical diff locks and low range transfer cases, the G580 uses torque vectoring to get into and out of any trouble when you are out bundu bashing by precisely metering torque to each individual wheel.
What all this power and torque also brings to the party, is speed. This Mercedes-Benz G580 got to 100km/h in its claimed 4.7-seconds and hits an electronic speed limiter of 180km/h after just 400m of tar during The Citizen Motoring‘s test. Sure, the 500kg lighter, 430kW/850Nm AMG G63, gets to 100km/h a whisker quicker at 4.4 seconds and does not stop till its limiter of 240km/h. But where you can’t beat the G580 is when it comes to “fuelling”.
I know you won’t care when you are spending R4.6-million on a SUV. But for what it is worth, I consumed 33.5kWh of electricity for every 100km travelled. That in power terms at my house translates to around R135 of electricity, and that in turn translates into around six litres of fuel per 100km. This is entry level hatch territory, whereas the AMG G63 consumed all the rest of it at 17.5 litres per 100km/h.
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Great charging times
You can forget the claimed range figures. I saw a range of 404km when fully charged, and this dropped down to a more realistic 350km average thanks to also always dropping the hammer on this Mercedes-Benz G580. The vehicle has a maximum charging capacity of up to 11kW for AC charging at home and up to 200kW for public rapid charging. In this case, the charging time from 10 to 80% is only around 32 minutes. More than good for any electric vehicle.
Is the Mercedes-Benz G580 an AMG G63? No. And we think we all know that. But it’s still such a blast to drive like a hooligan. And with a thing called G-ROAR, that pipes in the V8 engine soundtrack into the vehicle, you can almost fool yourself into thinking you are driving one. Oh, and if you like murdering tyres, the biggest party trick of the G580 is G-TURN, where you can make the vehicle go tank turning around in circles. Try it!
Mercedes-Benz G580 pricing
- G580 with EQ Technology – R3 823 457
- G580 with EQ Technology Edition One – R4 647 456
*Pricing includes five-Year/100 000km PremiumDrive Comfort Care Service and Maintenance Plan.
Electric G-Wagon data
