Austrian battery specialist Kreisel Electric has unveiled the all-electric Mercedes Benz G 350 D. Kreisel electrified the G 350 d by pulling out the engine and the transmission and fitting dual electric motors with reduction gears to the transfer gearbox.
It split the 1,124-lb (510-kg) 80-kWh battery up around the vehicle, putting modules under the hood, down low, and in the rear in place of the gas tank. By approaching the conversion in this way, the company was able to finish up in about two months while leaving the look of the G-Class virtually unchanged, save for the big Kreisel logo on the grille.
Kreisel states it’s electric, all-wheel-drive G-wagon can put up to 483 hp, travel up to 186 miles (300 km) per charge and hit a top speed of 113 mph (183 km/h). The electric powertrain also cuts three seconds off the 0-62 mph (100 km/h) time, getting it down to 5.6 seconds.
On the inside, Kreisel left the G 350 mostly stock but redesigned the instrument panel which is in support of the electric powertrain. When the battery level drops off, 150 kW fast-charging technologies will get the power back up running in about 25 minutes.
However, Kreisel has no plans to sell a full electric G-Class to customers. It describes it as a “unique prototype” before explaining that it’s talking to partner companies about putting its battery technology into their mass-produced cars. So unless one of those companies is Mercedes, and one of those cars is a G-Class, don’t expect to see this one on your local 4x4 trail or in the valet parking queue at your favourite fine dining hotspot.
The Kreisel electric G-Class is far from the first electrified version of 4x4 icon we’ve seen, but it is the most capable and well-rounded. In the past we’ve covered the electric Jeep Grand Cherokee from AMP and the electric Defender from Land Rover.
