Mercedes has decided that its global bestseller, the GLC, deserves an all-electric reinvention.
And while the silhouette still looks reassuringly familiar, it’s hard to ignore the bold new face: a colossal illuminated grille with 942 LEDs.
Pair that with a 39.1-inch Hyperscreen inside, and subtlety clearly wasn’t on the design brief.
The launch model, the GLC 400 4Matic, throws out numbers that make you sit up.
483bhp, a 0 to 100kmph time of roughly 4.7 seconds, and a 94kWh battery claiming 713km of range (WLTP).
On paper, that’s enough to settle range anxiety, though in the real world I’d expect a good 550 to 600km at best. Still, that’s plenty.
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The 800V architecture allows 330kW fast-charging, which Mercedes says translates to 300km in 10 minutes, if you can actually find chargers that quick in India, or most of Europe, for that matter.
Practical touches are there too: a healthy 570-litre boot, plus a front trunk, and a towing capacity of 2.4 tonnes.
The optional air suspension that drops on highways using Google Maps data feels like tech wizardry, while rear-wheel steering makes parking less of a nightmare in crowded cities.
Inside, the Hyperscreen dominates, and while it’s undeniably impressive, part of me wonders if it’s more distracting than useful.
Do we really need a dashboard wide enough to run Netflix, Spotify, and a lunar landing simulation all at once? On the other hand, the option of a vegan-certified interior feels like a small but symbolic shift.
Design-wise, I’m torn. The illuminated grille will divide opinion; it feels more Times Square than timeless Mercedes elegance.
But perhaps that’s the point: this is a car designed to announce the brand’s EV ambitions loudly, not whisper them.
The new GLC EV might just be Mercedes’ most convincing electric SUV yet, so let’s wait and see when the company is ready for an Indian launch.