2023-08-06 14:10:00
The majority is not necessarily right. Although no manufacturer associates electric and diesel anymore – fuel oil being extremely expensive to depollute in order to pass the standards –, Mercedes persists and signs this marriage which, on paper, brings together the best ingredients for the recipe for efficiency. In practice, this is also the case and each handling of a Mercedes diesel plug-in hybrid is proof of this. Our last example: 1,500 km at the wheel of the GLE 350 “de” (this is the name given to the diesel PHEVs of the Etoile). If these three letters speak only to connoisseurs, it is necessary to give other figures, much more telling, to set the context.
The GLE is an SUV almost 5 meters long, 2 meters wide and 1.80 m high. His weight ? 2.7 tons empty. In other words 3 tons in working order and with two passengers on board. The kind of technical sheet speaking in the United States – where moreover this GLE is manufactured and mainly sold – but which, in Europe, clashes a little, not to say shocks. We ourselves are not very confident regarding this 1,500 km test, including 1,000 on the highway, where the 31 gross kWh of the battery and the 136 hp of the electric motor will be of no use to us. It is therefore necessary to rely on the small 4-cylinder 2.0 turbo to maintain the 130 km/h.
A GLE as heavy as it is sober
Le Mercedes GLE. © Mercedes
Cap on the A6 and immediately, the GLE bluffs us. Not so much by the quality of the seats, the silence that reigns in the spacious cabin at 130 km/h, the fine finish or the voice command facilitating the use of very rich multimedia, because that is what we is to be expected from this kind of SUV. Just like the comfort provided by the chassis, equipped automatically with a pneumatic suspension guaranteeing an unusual softness. The astonishment comes rather from the dashboard. The kilometers go by and the fuel gauge… doesn’t go down. This GLE with the physique of golgoth, which pushes air on the highway, does not consume much. Sober by its successful design, the 2.0 turbo also relies on the 9-speed automatic transmission to lower the speed at stabilized speed (less than 2,000 rpm at 130 km/h). Result, our instantaneous consumption varies between 7.5 and 8.5 l/100 km. The other side of this coin, the 9G-Tronic box often hesitates. Its handling isn’t bad, but the 4-cylinder doesn’t have the muscles of a 3.0 turbo and the slightest change in elevation or traffic causes downshifts to maintain the pace. Downsizing has its limits.
The Mercedes GLE is available as a diesel plug-in hybrid.© Mercedes
Approaching Lyon, we leave the highway in favor of a secondary network more conducive to really gauge this GLE. Not so much on its dynamic qualities, which quickly turn out to be quite limited. It’s logical, because between a staggering weight and a very high center of gravity, we can’t expect from this big guy the rigor of a compact half as heavy.. For everyone’s comfort, the key word on board this GLE therefore remains anticipation, because the understeer implied by inertia happens very early. Fortunately, the body roll remains contained thanks to the good work of the suspensions which ensure remarkable smoothness – even in sport mode – and always retain progressiveness. Another good point, a direction that does not isolate too much from the road.
A 4-cylinder that lacks standing
The Mercedes GLE is almost 5 meters long. © Mercedes
What stands out, however, is the sound of the engine when it is requested. On the highway, it is almost forgotten, but in the mountains of Lyon, each revival makes this 2.0 turbo rumble, which lacks nobility for a GLE. In casting driving, the 197 hp are enough, but it is better to ask for help from the electric motor to overtake in complete serenity. With 333 hp and 750 Nm of cumulative torque, 80 to 120 km/h is no longer a challenge and the GLE finds its superb. While in town, we like to mute the diesel to take advantage of the autonomy offered by the huge accumulator of this PHEV. We did not subject this GLE to our standardized tests, but it took us 85 km of country and city roads to empty the “battery”. This promises, in suburban use, to preserve the heat engine as much as possible. At the end of our 1,500 km journey, the dashboard is formal: 7.6 l/100 km on average, not counting the phases of electric driving.. Amazing for this behemoth that we have not spared.
Interior of the Mercedes GLE.© Mercedes
If we can ask ourselves the question of such a size in Europe – exempt from any penalty, even on weight, thanks to its hybridization – the efficiency of Mercedes diesels and the relevance of the association with an electric motor are no doubt. The 4-cylinder chosen here lacks standing for this large SUV but it is also the key to its sobriety. Not enough to make this GLE accessible, billed at least €93,500 and even €105,400 in our AMG Line finish before customization, but at least enough to make it more virtuous, inexpensive to drive and offer it a Crit’Air 1 sticker normally prohibited for diesel. Always it took.
The Mercedes GLE is a large SUV.© Mercedes
The restyled Mercedes GLE is not yet entitled to the portrait screens of the C, E and S Class.© Mercedes
The Mercedes GLE is a born traveller.© Mercedes
The seats of the Mercedes GLE are extremely comfortable.© Mercedes
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