Benz wins the comp for longest name! Meet the ‘Mercedes-Benz GLC with EQ Technology’, coming with advanced EV tech to beat the BMW iX3, Audi Q6 e-tron and Porsche Macan EV
Fresh pics have been released of the all-new 2025 Mercedes-Benz GLC with EQ Efficiency winter testing in Sweden ahead of its September launch.
Benz has also revealed the electric GLC will leave little on the table when it comes to advanced new tech.
The Mercedes GLC with EQ Efficiency is only the second Benz EV (after the rugged G580 with EQ Technology) to adopt the German brand’s new naming strategy.
But the bigger news is it is the first car to ride on the car-maker’s all-new MB.EA dedicated electric car platform that will be shared with the C-Class EV and will also be the first model to adopt Mercedes’ eATS 2.0 powertrain.
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In essence the replacement for Benz’s first new-generation EV, the EQC, the GLC EV has been created to rival the inbound BMW iX3 replacement due this year, that heralds the arrival of BMW’s Neue Klasse family of EVs.
Its other two primary targets are the Audi Q6 e-tron and the Porsche Macan Electric, but you can throw the Polestar 4 in there as well, Cadillac Vistiq and others.
Initially, two powertrains will be available – a rear-drive version that comes with a single 200kW e-motor, plus a more muscular flagship dual-motor all-wheel drive GLC EV that pumps out 360kW.
Like the small CLA EV, the GLC EV comes with a two-speed transmission and a new front drive-unit that can be rapidly engaged or disengaged when extra traction is needed.
In most circumstances the GLC runs in two-wheel drive mode reducing drag and boosting range.
Both the single- and dual-motor versions come with a large 94.5kWh nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) power pack that should see the new GLC EV cover up to 650km on a single charge.
Ensuring fast-charging, all GLC EVs gain a powerful 800-volt electrical architecture that allows charging speeds of up to 320kW.
That translates to as much 260km of range added in little more than 10 minutes.
Boosting efficiency is a sophisticated thermal management system that includes a next-generation heat pump.
Other new tech includes brake-by-wire tech, dubbed One Box, that uses powerful computers to decide when to deploy the mechanical stoppers and when to rely on regen braking to claw back the maximum amount of energy.
Practicality is a strong point compared to the old EQC.
There’s a large 100-litre frunk, plus a 560-litre rear boot, enabling the EV to carry more than the combustion-powered GLC (620L).
Tested at temperatures as low as -25C, engineers used an Arctic Circle facility to develop the drive units, stability control, ABS, behaviour of the e-motors and cold weather charging.
The GLC will be built at Mercedes’ plant in Bremen, Germany, and Beijing in China. Manufacturing could also begin at a plant in the US to avoid tariffs there.
Benz says the GLC EV is set to become its best-selling electric car, even alongside the smaller more affordable CLA.
The preview of the GLC EV coincides with Mercedes announcing that from now until 2027 it will roll out no less than 17 EVs and 19 combustion vehicles.
