2025 Mercedes-Benz G580 With EQ Technology Review: Pricey and Portly, But Plenty Potent
Is the 2025 Mercedes-Benz G580 With EQ Technology a Good Luxury SUV?
- Almost indistinguishable from the gas-powered G-Class SUV from a design perspective, the G580 With EQ Technology delivers all the luxury, exclusivity and quirkiness of the G-Wagen lineup, plus a sneaky dose of 21st century electric-vehicle technology.
How Does the 2025 Mercedes-Benz G580 With EQ Technology Compare With Other Luxury SUVs?
- The Rivian R1S Quad-Motor is the only other four-motor, super-expensive luxury SUV on the market, and it easily bests the Mercedes-Benz G580 in interior space, usable tech, driving range, power and pricing, but the Benz offers better interior materials quality, customization and cachet.
In general, we remain unconvinced about the wisdom of fully electric off-road trucks and SUVs. At least as of this writing, there’s nowhere to plug your car in when you’re out in the boondocks, overlanding from one spot to another. It’s good, then, that the new 2025 Mercedes-Benz G580 With EQ Technology (yes, that whole title is its official name) will almost certainly never venture any farther off pavement than the local polo fields; the only rodeo it’s likely to visit is Rodeo Drive.
Yes, the electric G580 has technology that would make it formidable out in the backcountry — but it also has technology that makes it unsuitable for venturing there. Rather, it’s a six-figure style statement, a cachet-loaded monster truck that will be perfect for a handful of buyers around the world: people who want to arrive in style and silence, who never venture too far from home and who like to have neat toys that can do remarkable things. In that role, the 2025 G580 With EQ Technology shines.
Related: 2025 Mercedes-Benz G580 With EQ Technology Up Close: G-reat
1 / 142025 Mercedes-Benz G580 with EQ Technology | Cars.com photo by Aaron Bragman
How Much Does a 2025 G580 With EQ Technology Cost?
The G580 is one of three trims of the G-Class SUV sold in the U.S. Sometimes called the G-Wagen — derived from the German Gelandewagen (roughly meaning “all-terrain vehicle”) — its lineup includes the G550 and AMG G63 gas-powered versions, along with the G580 With EQ Technology all-electric model. It was originally planned to be called the EQG, in keeping with Mercedes’ “EQ” sub-brand naming convention for its electric vehicles, but it came to market instead as the G580 With EQ Technology after Mercedes-Benz decided to drop its whole EQ nomenclature. I’m not sure this is a better option. Its prices are listed below, including a surprisingly reasonable $1,150 destination fee.
- G550: $149,400
- G580 With EQ Technology: $162,650
- AMG G63: $187,250
The biggest difference between the variants is what’s under the hood. The base G550 comes with a standard turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six-cylinder engine making 443 horsepower. Next priciest is the all-electric G580 With EQ Technology, which features four electric motors (one for each wheel) and a huge 116-kilowatt-hour battery pack, good for a robust 579 hp and a whopping 859 pounds-feet of torque. The priciest, top-of-the-line G-Wagen is the AMG G63, which features a 577-hp, twin-turbo 4.0-liter V-8 and special AMG tuning and styling.
Your Standard G-Wagen Inside and Out
Historically, the G-Wagen has been known for a few things. There’s its styling, for one, which has looked largely the same since it was introduced in 1979, right down to its fender-top corner lights, super-upright windshield and boxy overall shape. It was significantly redesigned for the 2019 model year, getting slightly smoothed out styling for improved aerodynamics, increased overall length and width, and a redone interior that fully updated the classic SUV with modern amenities.
Styling hasn’t changed much with this latest version, but the electric model does have some differences, including an available smooth-panel grille and unique wheels. Many of the same styling options available on the gas-powered G550 are available on the G580, including the blacked-out Night Package that my test vehicle came with. Other than that panel grille and the very small, subtle EQ badges on the lower front fenders, though, there’s very little to give away that this is the fully electric model instead of one of the gas-powered versions. The door locks still have that mechanical rifle-bolt clack, the doors still close with a tank-like clunk, and the G580 still uses push-button handles to open them up — just like God intended when the G-Wagen was created.
1 / 72025 Mercedes-Benz G580 with EQ Technology | Cars.com photo by Aaron Bragman
Climbing up into the cabin (it’s a bit of a step up) reveals the interior isn’t any different from a conventionally powered model, either, aside from a couple of extra menus in the multimedia system and a few buttons that have been relabeled for unique functions. It’s a commanding driving position — almost like a Jeep Wrangler’s, but with a shorter, more sloped hood. The traditional corner marker lights are clearly visible at each front corner, and the boxy hood joins in for a truly retro feel. Twin 12.3-inch screens in front of you aren’t, however, retro at all; they’re fully modern. The gauge cluster is digital and reconfigurable to several variations, and the center touchscreen runs the MBUX software, which is the last generation of the company’s system. (Mercedes has since moved on to a newer, more simplified version in its latest sedans and SUVs.) The G580 also has Mercedes’ touch-sensitive steering-wheel controls, which we’ve come to despise and which the brand has put on just about everything in its showrooms.
The front seats are comfortable, and there’s plenty of headroom, but there’s not a lot of legroom in either the front or rear seats; taller drivers may find that the seat doesn’t go back far enough for them to be properly comfortable, and anyone over 5-foot-10 will be uncomfortable in the backseat, which isn’t adjustable. Rear headroom, however, is plentiful thanks to the G580’s tall roof and upright side windows. So even though it’s not overly commodious for stretching out, it doesn’t feel terribly cramped thanks to that airy greenhouse. Cargo room in the back is adequate, and folding the backseats down to open up even more space can be done in a 60/40 split — though you’ll have to move the front seats forward a bit in order to fully lower the rear seatbacks.
The G580’s packaging reveals its old-school origins as a true SUV, not a car-based crossover. Its overall size inside and out isn’t that different from a four-door Wrangler. It’s positively dwarfed by Mercedes’ big three-row SUV, the GLS-Class, but the G-Wagen has never really been about feeling good; it’s always been much more about looking good, at least in the communities that buy these things as daily drivers. And in terms of style and presence, it still turns heads and i
