Electric Mercedes GLC owners of the previous generation won’t be scared even by a huge screen (first drive)

Some electric cars are already so well tuned that at a constant speed, your body doesn’t even notice that the car is moving. It’s a similar feeling as when you don’t notice in the compartment of a train that it has already left the station.

The new Mercedes GLC with EQ technology knows such a trick, and on the first drives it also impressed us with its overall character.

Similarly, as in the first drive of the competing BMW iX3here too we cannot avoid mentioning that the German premium car manufacturers were simply not the world’s technological leaders when it came to electric cars until recently.

Fortunately, there has been a change, and in the context of the flood of Chinese electrical novelties, it looks a bit like the Germans have been provoked into a proper performance, literally, the charging one.

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However, the use of the new MB.EA platform with 800-volt architecture not only brings the possibility of charging with a power of up to 330 kW, but also the new brain of the car – the MB.OS operating system developed directly by Mercedes with five high-performance control units.

Although the equipment of the electric GLC is similar to that with internal combustion engines that arrived four years agobut the driving experience is really different.

Attractive future now

It feels a bit like the future when we ask interesting things about the nearby Lake Neusiedl in the car while driving around Austria’s artificial intelligence Burgenland. At the same time, we are already passing by the second solar farm under construction. After wind power plants, Austria is also experiencing a photovoltaic boom.

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The nearly meter-long Hyperscreen of the MBUX system across the entire width of the dashboard is impressive, but we could do without it. Rather, we were interested in how Mercedes simplified and made it transparent menu. In the past, this was the reason why we preferred to use the perfect voice assistant when testing cars of this brand, rather than searching in the menu. Now, thanks to the built-in ChatGPT, the car will tell you about anything that interests you or your children during the journey.

In the center on top of the screens are the cameras that monitor the driver’s vigilance and it is a more practical location. Previously, they were above the screen of the instrument panel, and it often happened that the driver was asked to change the position of the steering wheel so that the cameras could see his face. Now such commanding does not take place anymore.

No time for movies while charging

While charging the car, we were also able to try streaming services. You can watch, for example, Avatar via Disney+ on the screen in front of the passenger. But you won’t see much of it at once, and that’s “due to” fast charging. The 94 kWh battery charges from 10 to 80 percent in 24 minutes.

By the way, through MB.Charge Public you can reserve a charger in your own network 15 minutes before arrival, we tried it in the shopping center in Parndorf.

During the stop, it was time to look at the more practical side of the car. For example, access to the trunk, i.e. the 128-liter trunk under the front hood, is cleverly solved by a microswitch on the hood of the car. Just press the symbol and the hood will open. It is still mechanically secured from below, but you do not need to go into the car to open it.

Of course, the classic luggage compartment in the back, which has a volume of 570 liters, is of primary importance. According to the manufacturer, the rear bumper is shaped in such a way that shopping or luggage can be loaded more comfortably. After folding down the seats, the trunk increases to 1740 liters.

Excellent comfort even with the basic chassis

With the optional air suspension, the car will be lowered so that the loading edge is a little lower. There is also a retractable towing device, the electric GLC surprisingly can tow up to a 2.4-tonne trailer.

We were able to test the version with both standard and two-chamber Airmatic air chassis. Quality roads in Austria they did not unequivocally confirm that the air suspension would be worth the extra cost, respectively, the standard suspension with steel springs proved to be very well tuned even for drivers demanding comfort.

On sections with winding roads, the Mercedes helped in the turns by spinning the rear wheels. Even in sports mode, you can feel that the car is more focused on comfort, although we were not bored in the corners and the steering is excellent.

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What didn’t quite suit us was the recuperation setting. It didn’t seem entirely consistent and we would have liked another notch between strong and weak. You can also switch it to automatic mode. The latter was the best option in this case.

And we haven’t mentioned the performance yet? It is a matter of course. The GLC EQ 400 4Matic version has a power of 360 kW (489 hp) and a torque of 800 Nm.

The over 2.5-ton SUV can accelerate from zero to a hundred in 4.3 seconds, and it runs out of breath at a speed of 210 kilometers. We didn’t try it with a lot of Austrian speed cameras, but during sharp long acceleration on the highway connector, you could feel how the system makes good use of the two-speed gearbox.

With a decent range even in real traffic

At constant speed, the rear electric motor drives the car, the front one is connected at increased power. In order for the system to work as efficiently as possible, the rear electric motor can also be disconnected during sailing, so that unnecessary losses do not occur.

According to the WLTP measurement, Mercedes states a range of 673 to 715 kilometers, while driving in the districts and on the highway, the consumption stabilized at 18.5 kWh, which would mean a real range of a still respectable 508 kilometers.

The new electric GLC smoothly followed on from its SUV predecessors, and although it is technically a revolution, it does not want to scare customers away with big changes on board or exterior design. So it’s a less radical approach compared to BMW and its new iX3. Both cars bring a big step forward and it’s up to you whether you like bolder solutions and sportier driving or prefer the comfort that Mercedes is an expert at.