Mercedes has revealed the all-new electric GLC - the first model in what it calls a “new family” of electric vehicles - and on paper at least, it’s one of the most complete electric SUVs yet.
Prices start at £60,350, with UK deliveries due in mid-2026. For now, there’s just one version: the GLC 400 4MATIC, with 489 hp, all-wheel drive, and a claimed 406-mile range from a 94 kWh battery.
That’s more power than an old AMG C 63 V8, by the way, and nearly double the range of the first EQC.
Performance and range
Beneath the smooth, chrome-heavy bodywork is a new dual-motor setup with a two-speed transmission on the rear axle. It’ll do 0–62 mph in 4.3 seconds, which feels faintly absurd for a family SUV, and top out at 130 mph.
Mercedes claims the 800-volt architecture allows 330 kW DC charging, which, if you can find a charger that fast, means 10-80 percent in roughly 20 minutes. AC charging is 11 kW as standard or 22 kW as an option.
There’s also an unusually clever braking system. The new “One-Box” setup merges the master cylinder, booster, and ESP control into one unit, allowing almost all braking to be handled by regeneration - up to 300 kW of it, in fact.
In its highest setting, Mercedes says the hydraulic brakes aren’t even touched in 99 percent of driving situations.
Ride, handling, and safety
Tick the Refinement Package and you get AIRMATIC air suspension and rear-axle steering. Below 37 mph, the back wheels turn opposite to the fronts to trim nearly a metre off the turning circle. Above that speed, they steer in the same direction for stability.
A new “Car-to-X” function lets the damping react to information from other Mercedes vehicles ahead, while Google Maps data helps the car lower itself on motorways to cut drag.
You can even raise the suspension by voice command - which sounds like the sort of thing your kids will discover long before you do.
Safety-wise, Mercedes has gone heavy on pre-collision systems, adaptive cruise, lane keeping and the usual alphabet soup of assists.
The firm says its electrical isolation measures go “beyond legal requirements,” so theoretically you can crash it without becoming an unwilling conductor.
Inside the machine
Inside, you get the full MB.OS treatment - Mercedes’ new in-house operating system, capable of 254 trillion operations per second, or roughly the same number of options on the online configurator.
The base car gets the MBUX SUPERSCREEN, while higher trims feature the vast 39-inch MBUX HYPERSCREEN stretching across the dashboard, looking less like an interior and more like a branch of Currys.
For the first time, Mercedes will also sell you a vegan interior certified by The Vegan Society - every soft-touch surface, from the seats to the headliner, animal-free.
Available as a no-cost option on the entry Sport trim, it’s the least Mercedes-y sentence ever written, but here we are.
The cabin itself is slightly roomier than the combustion GLC, with an 84 mm longer wheelbase, and the boot now swallows 520 litres, or 1,690 litres seats-down, plus 128 litres in the frunk - enough for a few charging cables and your dignity when the charger’s out of order.
UK trims and equipment
Five trims are offered: Sport, AMG Line, AMG Line Premium, AMG Line Premium Plus, and Premier Edition. Even the base model gets 20-inch wheels, a panoramic glass roof, heated seats, and a reversing camera.
Higher trims bring DIGITAL LIGHT micro-LED headlights, Burmester 3D or 4D sound systems, massage seats, and a roof full of 162 illuminated stars that mimic the cabin ambient lighting.
Think of it as Mercedes’ answer to Rolls-Royce’s starlight headliner, except it’s on the outside.
Design and intent
The front grille is all-new - a chrome frame with 942 illuminated dots - heralding the start of Mercedes’ next design phase. It’s a visual bridge between the EQ and traditional GLC, and likely a template for everything that follows.
Mercedes says this is the beginning of a “new family,” which means this drivetrain and platform will soon underpin more models. Given the spec sheet, that’s no bad thing.
The takeaway
So, what’s the new electric GLC? In essence, it’s Mercedes finally joining the modern EV conversation on its own terms – big range, big power, big screens, and no trace of EQ branding.
It’s also, quite possibly, the car that finally lets Mercedes park its EV range next to BMW’s and Audi’s.
