Mercedes-Benz All-electric GLC Parameters Revealed: 300 km Range in 10 Min Charge

Mercedes-Benz has started to warm up the market for its all-electric GLC model.

As the best-selling model of Mercedes-Benz in 2024, the GLC had over 150,000 units delivered in the Chinese market last year, achieving a year-on-year growth of over 40%. It became the second best-selling model of Mercedes-Benz in the two major automotive markets of China and the United States.

With the global automotive market transitioning towards electrification, especially with the increasing demand for all-electric models in the three major markets of China, the United States, and Europe, the outside world has been eagerly anticipating the all-electric GLC for a long time.

Finally, on March 4th (German time), Mercedes-Benz, through the report of the Swedish winter test of the all-electric GLC prototype, publicly revealed some information about this model for the first time.

Mercedes-Benz demonstrated the new vehicle's performance in aspects such as driving range, energy replenishment efficiency, and handling, and evaluated it as "enhancing the capabilities of the existing successful model".

Based on the existing information, what is the product strength of the all-electric GLC? Can it help Mercedes-Benz fill the gap of high-volume electrified products in the Chinese market?

Let's analyze it together.

Not the MMA Architecture, but the MB.EA Platform

Compared with the pace of domestic new energy vehicle brands that update their models at least once a year, the research and development rhythm of the all-electric GLC is not fast.

From the exposure of the first camouflaged test vehicle in August 2023 to the present, when Mercedes-Benz officially released the winter test results and paved the way for its launch in 2026, consumers have to wait for three years to see the actual vehicle.

Over the past two years, the all-electric GLC has undergone dual changes in naming and appearance.

In terms of naming, the new vehicle will not be named "New EQC", but will be called "GLC with EQ Technology", and its abbreviation may be "GLC EQ".

According to a report by European automotive news on February 23rd, Mercedes-Benz will gradually abandon the all-electric brand EQ series and instead use the labels "with EQ Technology" and "EQ Hybrid Technology" to distinguish between all-electric models and plug-in hybrid models.

In terms of appearance design, the all-electric GLC presents a more sporty look compared to both the fuel-powered version and the early spy photos.

Although the overseas media participating in the winter test all said that the vehicle was heavily camouflaged both inside and outside, from the camouflage paint on the body lines, we can still see features such as a large-sized air intake grille, a raised engine hood, etc. The body lines are smooth and dynamic, and there is a front trunk under the engine hood.

The size of the new vehicle will be 5 inches longer than that of the fuel-powered version. Referring to the current GLC's length, width, and height of 4826/1890/1714 (1696 for the classic edition) mm and a wheelbase of 2977 mm, it is speculated that the length of the all-electric version may exceed 4.9 meters to accommodate a larger battery and optimize the rear seat space.

More crucially, there is an upgrade in product strength.

Unlike the CLA that will be launched this year, the all-electric GLC will continue to be based on the MB.EA architecture instead of the MMA platform. However, at least in terms of energy replenishment efficiency, the difference between the two models may be limited.

The new vehicle supports a DC fast charging power of 320 kW. In contrast, the fast charging power of the discontinued EQC was only 110 kW. This indicator is on par with the models based on the MMA architecture. Mercedes-Benz once revealed that the CLA concept car could achieve a driving range of 300 kilometers after charging for 10 minutes.

In terms of driving range, according to the news from Car and Driver magazine, the all-electric GLC will be equipped with a 94.5 kWh battery pack. Mercedes-Benz estimates that the driving range under the WLTP cycle will exceed 400 miles (about 644 kilometers), and under the EPA cycle, it will exceed 300 miles (about 483 kilometers). The vehicle will be equipped with Mercedes-Benz's new generation heat pump system, and its energy consumption is only one-third of that of traditional air conditioning equipment.

In terms of power configuration, the all-electric GLC offers rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive versions, among which the performance of the all-wheel drive version is particularly remarkable.

The AMG version of the vehicle equipped with the eATS 2.0 electric drive system will share a system output power of 670 horsepower with the plug-in hybrid version of the Mercedes-AMG GLC63 S E Performance.

The latter, as a plug-in hybrid model of the GLC, is expected to have a 0-100 km/h acceleration time that can enter the 3-second club, which echoes the sporty appearance design.

In addition, it is known that the new vehicle can be optionally equipped with an upgraded air suspension and rear-wheel steering system, and it will be equipped with the MB.OS operating system to provide high-level intelligent driving functions.

Can't Lose in the "Public Opinion Arena"

The product profile of the all-electric GLC is gradually becoming clear: it will continue Mercedes-Benz's advantages in chassis tuning and handling, while also strengthening the weaknesses in intelligence, driving range, and energy replenishment.

But the core question still remains: as Mercedes-Benz's largest single market, can the all-electric GLC, which is expected to be launched in 2026, keep up with the rhythm of the Chinese market?

2025 is a big year for SUV products of Chinese new energy vehicle brands. There are models like the Xiaomi YU7 that also focuses on a sporty style, similar to the all-electric GLC, as well as the Li Auto i8 and LeDao L90 that are targeted at family users. What's more, there are diversified products such as the AITO M8/M9 and Lynk & Co 900.

With the expansion of the coverage of vehicle styles and price ranges, consumers will become more picky in their choices.

Parameters such as a driving range of about 644 kilometers under the WLTP cycle and the untested MB.OS system do not show significant advantages even in the current Chinese market.

More severely, under the trend of Chinese brands collectively moving upmarket, the brand image of Mercedes-Benz constructed through press conferences and sales rhetoric is facing the situation of being frequently compared and "defeated" by competing products, and its luxurious and high-end positioning is threatened in the promotion of its competitors.

If the all-electric GLC is launched as planned in 2026, referring to the current starting price of the fuel-powered version of 427,800 yuan, its price is most likely not to be lower than 400,000 yuan. By then, how many consumers will still be willing to pay for it?

Perhaps the market performance of the CLA, the first model based on the MMA platform, can provide us with important reference.

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