2026 Mercedes-Benz GLB EV | The Only Premium 7-Seater Electric SUV?
Things are changing at Mercedes-Benz. Gone are unique models that are electric versus their petrol counterparts. Instead, you have this, the allnew Mercedes-Benz GB, fully electric. And that’s right. You can have this car with either a petrol uh option or the full EV option. And it goes to show this way that the market is understanding of electric vehicles to bring the latest technology into a practicality package that just feels the same as a regular car. Where is this one a bit of a standout? Well, come with me and let’s take a look. The electric version of the new GB will be offered in two variants. the rear drive 200 kW GB 250 plus with EQ technology and an all-wheel drive GB 3504matic with EQ technology with outputs of 260 kW and 515 Nm. Both variants use an 85 kWh battery pack and offer over 600 km of range on a WLTP cycle. Australian pricing is yet to be announced, so make sure you stay tuned to drive.com.au for the details as they come to hand. The GB range combines the outgoing GB and EQB lineup and despite being a compact SUV, can be had with either five or seven seats. The new GB EV now sits on an 800vt electric platform which affords up to 320 kW charging, giving you the ability to add around 260 km of range with a 10-minute charge, which is about long enough to go and make a hot chocolate. So, if you’re trying to tell the difference between an electric GB and a petrol powered one, obviously not having an engine, uh, is your first step, but this is really the only way they differ. Under here, 127 L of storage, and the grill is a flush mounted panel. There are 94 stars on there, just in case you’re counting. That really is the only difference. This car features the progressive line styling. You can see uh it’s got the plastic over fender flares versus the AMG line that get slightly different front air intakes well or air dams anyway uh and bodycoled over fender flares. That’s kind of it. So the idea and if you remember when Toyota had the Prius, it was a standalone different car, but as soon as they put hybrid into regular looking Corollas, Camry, and Rav 4s, sales went through the roof. This is the approach that Mercedes-Benz is taking. your GB looks basically the same regardless of its powertrain. But if you want full electric, well, you’ve got this car as an option, and they’ve updated a lot of its running gear and capability. So much so that this is starting to make a lot of sense for a lot of buyers. Now, you’ll have to bear with me as the temperature is dropping as my brain will kind of start to freeze. It’s currently – 10. There’s some pretty cool things with this car. Starting with the snowflake wheels. They’re a 20-in uh on this car. That’s a standard thing. It is longer and wider than the previous GB. Underneath the electric skateboard, basically what you have is an 85 kWh battery. It’s an 800vt uh charging architecture and has a range of around 630 km. So, it’s ticking a lot of boxes as an EV before you start to look at how it works from a practical SUV standpoint. You can have this car, which is probably it’s its uh really big calling card, as either a five-seater or a sevenseater. And to be fair, it’s kind of a five and a five plus two. But that added level of practicality having the third row of seats which do come with ISOIX as well is a bit of a gamecher for a lot of buyers because you don’t need to go to a full size electric EV like a Kia EV9 or Hyundai Ionic 9. You can have this compact size, have that flexibility of extra seats in the back and still be fully electric. To aid with practicality, the doors on the new GB are bigger than they were on the old car. In the EV, you get a flat floor, so it does give you a little bit more leg room. But what we’ve seen in this car, there is a stack of room inside for even tall passengers like me. I’m 6’4. I’ve got plenty of headroom thanks to the uh the panoramic roof that doesn’t have a blind on it. But you can get it with an option that basically makes it semiopaque. It’s got some stars on there as well. Typical Mercedes-Benz, about 158 of them if you are counting, uh that add to the interior ambience of the car. And it’s some of this, I guess, little features and technology additions that they’re putting into a car like the GB, which, you know, again, let’s remind ourselves is an entry point to the Mercedes-Benz SUV lineup. Gives you a lot of choice and a a little bit more fun, particularly for some younger buyers. This is a 5seat car. I can’t show you what the seven seat looks like, but with some B-roll, we can explain. You’ve got a tilt and slide on this second row to allow access to the back. You’ve got some basic tab pulls to change for recline and for access into the boot if you do need that third row. So, if it’s a car that you’re looking for, you want that extra bit of flexibility, maybe put an order in or wait and see you for GB timing before it comes to Australia. The interior of the new GB really does feel a little bit more uh modern and funky than I I got to admit than I was expecting. You’ve got three screens here, which uh will probably be an option when the car does arrive in Australia. A 10.25 25 digital cluster for the driver and then two 14-in displays, the main one and then one for the passenger. There is a camera uh fitted here as well that can do some pretty clever things. This screen in some markets can allow the passenger to play a video, but if that camera sees that I’m looking at the screen, it will block it out. But it’s clever enough to know that if I’m looking at the screen or if I’m looking at the passenger mirror, it will still allow me to uh to use that. So, it’s a very uh intuitive system. What Mercedes-Benz have also added is they’ve considered the fact that modern drivers tend to be doing a lot of their work on the go. So, you can have video conferencing capabilities here where that camera will bring you into your uh your team’s meeting so that you can be seen while driving. There’s even a fun uh display if you’ve got someone sitting in the passenger seat. They can take a selfie while they’re in the car. Not really sure why you’d want to do that, but again, it’s there and you can play with it and well have fun. The driving position is nice. You’re sitting up uh quite high. There’s good visibility. That panoramic roof gives me a stack of headroom in here. So, it does feel quite airy, really helped by the light leather interior in this car. But, it does start to make the GB feel a lot more elevated. You’ve got a very, very funky and modern car as opposed to one that just sort of felt a little bit well maybe out of place. As a full EV, you’ve then got obviously the benefit of, like I said, close to well or over 600 km worth of driving range, but that very easy kind of tractability, particularly around town as well. Now, if you option in the uh the magic roof in the new GB, you can have it fully clear, you can make it opaque, which is a milky finish, and it sort of animates as it closes, or you can go to something a little bit fun and have it sort of patchwork. But you can see that there are stars in there as well that you can change the color of those depending on your interior lighting color. So, you know, some pretty cool fun things. But you can see here on the display, you’ve got an awful lot of uh new functionality and slightly more improved graphics that we’re seeing um through the new MBOS. And even the assistant, hey, Mercedes, I’m listening. Is an upgraded version. Can you make the roof clear? All right, I’m setting the roof to clear. Not bad. So, our first look at the allect electric new Mercedes-Benz GB. And what have we learned? Well, Mercedes-Benz is basically taking the route that a number of other brands have and giving you the same car, but with a choice of powertrain, which means they look the same, they feel the same, the interior is the same. And you’re essentially getting the same car, but just with a choice of what’s powering it. And I think that’s where buyers are going. You’ve got a tremendous amount of technology, some fun stuff, too. uh and a far more premium and modern interior focus while still being incredibly practical. The extra size really does translate into usable room. Plus, if you do opt for the seven- seater, you’ve got yourself a very, very flexible platform. Now, in terms of pricing and range positioning, we’ll get more details as the car gets closer to the Australian market. But do expect it to undercut the GLC that we currently see at about around $100,000. So, this car could be a bit of a a dark horse special runner in the full electric stakes. You’ve got well, a badge. You’ve got some impressive technology, and you’ve got a very functional car. Of course, if there’s anything more that you would like to know about the new Mercedes-Benz GB, whether it’s the electric one or the petrol hybrid, head on over to drive.com.au. We’ll have all the information, and we’ll have even more when it comes to pricing and spec when the car gets even closer to Australia. But for now, I’m going to go find some hot chocolate or something like that because it is – 10° out here and I’m putting on a brave face, but my hands are numb. And well, it’s time to go inside. I’ll see you next time. [Music]
The all-new GLB will offer plenty of practicality and technology, as well as the option of petrol-hybrid and electric drivetrains, when it arrives in 2026.
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Read Full Story Here: https://www.drive.com.au/news/2026-mercedes-benz-glb-suv-revealed-with-full-electric-and-hybrid-variants/
00:00 Introduction
00:36 Pricing & Specifications
01:33 Boot
02:36 Design
03:41 Interior
07:24 Summary
#mercedesbenz #GLBEV #mercedesev
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