1 electric GLC. 5 challenges. 30 minutes. | CEO Ola Källenius tests the prototype
Hello? Hey Ola, how about this? You behind the wheel of the all-new electric GLC and 30 minutes of pure driving adrenaline. Are you in? That sounds good, but there is someone I need to bring with me. Ola, good to see you! Sarah, great to see you. How are you doing? I am about to be better because I hear you have some challenges for us. Absolutely! Look at this beauty. It is the new all-electric GLC and today, we have to complete five challenges. Why don’t you give me those envelopes and you drive. Okay, let’s do it. Envelope one here. Ola, are you ready? -I am ready. -All right. It says: From zero to 100, test the all-new electric GLC’s instant acceleration and smooth control. You are up for it? -Easy. -Let’s do it. But let me warn you. This is an electric car – massive torque, massive power. Even though this is an everyday commuter car, it is going to feel like you are driving an AMG GT. Well, I will be the judge of that, Ola. Okay, here we go! We are at zero: 3, 2, 1, go! Oh my God! It takes off! It is like being in an airplane! And that was the hundred already. In an AMG GT, you would say: “That is what I bought”. But you are in a GLC, our most selling model, and you believe you are in a sports car. It definitely felt sporty. I only need to do that one once. Ola, envelope number two. Okay. What have you got? Tight turns, fast direction changes, race through the slalom as quickly and precisely as you can. Okay. The slalom, my personal favourite. To keep things interesting I will… Oh, you have a cup of coffee! Okay. So I have a lot of responsibility here. No pressure. This being an SUV, normally you would say this is a comfy ride, right? Yes. But with the battery, the centre of gravity is really low. The suspension is tight, top of the line air suspension. Let’s see what this baby can do. Let’s see how she handles. -Let’s go! -Do your best! Wow! Okay! Oh, she is tight. Yes. Okay. Let’s see how many you knocked down. Just the one. Just the one. Could have been the wind. Like a professional skier, you just graze it. My coffee is still in the cup, that’s what counts. Good! That worked. Kudos to the engineers! Yes. Well done, guys! Clue number three. Okay. Clue number three. I have a feeling I know what it is going to be. Okay. Let’s see. This is for outside the car. It says: Everyday capacity check, see how much space the GLC really offers and how much you can fit into the trunk. Should we give it a go? Challenge accepted. Open the trunk, I will get the first bag. It looks like we ran out of space for the groceries. This is full, but I have a magic word for you. What is it? It is not trunk, it is frunk. Frunk? To the frunk! Let’s go to the frunk. Here we go. Plenty of space in there. No problem. Perfect. The frunk saves the day. The frunk saves the day. Let’s go to challenge four. Ola, no time to lose. Clue number four. Clue number four. What do we have? Time is ticking. Recharge the car and see how many kilometres you can gain. Wait, if we recharge now, we are not going to finish. This is going to be so fast. Because this car can charge at 320 kW. Wow! We are in good shape. We will be out here in no time. Do you see the charging port? Yes, I do. It is camouflaged, but it is there. Easy does it. 260 kilometres in 10 minutes. More than 650 km range. Range anxiety: Goodbye! Goodbye, range anxiety. Hello, challenge winners! There we go. Ola, we have made it to our fifth and final challenge. What is it? Let’s see what we got. A true test of strength. Can the GLC really tow a classic Mercedes? We are going for a little bit bigger challenge. Of course we can. All right. Going out with a bang! Looking at this old timer, that is a pretty nice-looking vehicle. It is. They have picked one of my all time favourites. The good old 300 SEL, a true classic from its time. Look at that iconic grille. Gorgeous! Unmistakably Mercedes-Benz. I think there is a clue there. We will pick up some of the cues from that iconic grille in a modern version on this GLC. Stay tuned! You are teasing me. When are we going to get a look? This we are going to unveil at the Munich International Auto Show in September. In September. I will see you there. It is a date! Looking forward to it. Let’s give this a go and see how strong this car is. -Let’s do it. -All right. I love that they called this an everyday challenge. Do you tow a lot of old timers? No, I don’t. Day to day? I would call this “once every 10 years challenge”. All right. But if you live in the States, in the countryside, you have your boat. Yes. Or maybe you are a horse person. Yes, I am a horse person. There you go. So, you are saying this electric car can pull a trailer. No question. If you want to go riding, this is the car for you. It is handling that old timer pretty well. And that is a heavy car, an old S-Class. Yes. That is a fortress on wheels. We have probably the world’s largest collection of heritage vehicles. Do they let you drive them at night? Not that, but we do use them for events. Okay. Yes, we participate in classic rallies. We are a very big feature of THE classic car rally, the Mille Miglia in Italy. Where still today the legendary speed record of Sir Sterling Moss in the Mercedes SLR is the record for eternity. Nice! How do you feel we performed on the challenges? I think we have been excellent. That is what we like to hear. I don’t want to take any of the credit. None of this would have been possible without the fantastic job of our engineers. It feels right. It is safe. It has great ride and drive, it has power. So: 360 degree Mercedes. I am so looking forward to when we launch this. I am excited to get a look at the front now that you have teased us. Yes, you will instantly see and say that is a Mercedes. So you have already seen it. I have seen it. That is a Mercedes, there is no question about it. It is a future techy interpretation of that iconic Mercedes style. Yes, should we try slalom again? I think that old timer is a bit too expensive for that experiment. Fair enough. Let’s go back to the garage. This was so fun! Thank you so much for having me here in Sindelfingen. Thanks for joining me. That was a great afternoon with some challenges, but you have to continue. What? I have three more challenges for you. Those you have to solve on your own. My work here is not done. I will see you in Munich in September. And yes, wish me luck. Sounds like a plan. Good luck! That’s it for today. Thank you so much for watching, but we are not done yet. Over the next few days, we will drop exclusive mini challenges with the all-new Electric GLC only on TikTok and Instagram. Don’t miss it!
30 minutes. Five challenges. And Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Källenius with the all-new electric GLC on the test track in Sindelfingen, Germany – yet camouflaged.
Joining him: Sarah, co-driver and commentator. Together, they show what the new GLC with EQ technology is capable of: acceleration, agility, everyday practicality, charging speed, towing capacity.
Will they complete all challenges in time? Tune in to find out.
*The information is preliminary and based on forecasts. There are currently no confirmed values from an officially recognized testing organization, nor an EC type approval, nor a certificate of conformity with official values. Deviations between the stated values and the official values are possible.
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