I have always said that Gwagons were my Ferraris. Once I started actually thinking about ‘dream cars’ I knew that I wanted a G63, and I still remember how freaking excited I was when the first one I ordered was delivered. This is my 4th wagon, and after owning a handful of them I felt like I could give a pretty fair and honest assessment about the differences between the two. I’ve had 2 G63’s, a 4x4 Squared, and then the yellow G580.


Sitting inside the G580 feels as familiar as one thinks it would. My last G63 was a 2022 and while there are clearly differences between the two, it’s close enough that you aren’t confused about where stuff is on the dash. The touch screen is clearly a new thing, and since I’ve been able to do this on my freaking JEEP for a long time, it is nice to finally have a working touchscreen on the G. There are new buttons to mess with for off-road stuff, along with the buttons for the Gturn and Gsteering. There are less buttons down around in the center console area now, since the touchscreen situation is going on. But honestly, for the most part the dash is familiar without any crazy stuff to shock and awe.

I would say the real difference between a G580 and a G63 is the suspension. Now, I don’t know a whole lot about cars— that’s my husbands realm— but I do know *exactly* what it’s like to drive these cars, and the difference in the feel of the suspension is, in my opinion, *substantial*. I ran my G63s in Sport+ pretty much all the time, and so that vehicle felt TIIIIIGHT on the turns — but even in comfort mode I could take the tight switchbacks confidently (and boy did I love doing it) at speed in the G63. I just ran my G580 down this same set of switchbacks on the way home from dinner just now and even when putting the car into Sport mode, it is not same, lol. Not same at all. As I was driving said road I even mentioned to my husband that I felt like it would be easy to lose control of the car. Easier to lose control of it compared to the G63.

To be very clear— I drove one of these before I bought it, and knew exactly what I was getting, so this isn’t a “I wish I’d known better” at all. More just a post about what I feel like is the only ‘real’ difference between the two cars. I’d also say that I *love* my electric Gwagon, and even with the differences between the two I’ll still buy an electric one again when it’s time for a replacement. (I’m so over the gas station all the time lol).

 

One word, weight! While there are certainly differences between the suspension on an AMG and on a non-AMG, the literal elephant in the room is weight. The 580 weighs almost 1000 lbs more than your previous G63. That's gonna hit you in the face around corners. That's a significant weight difference. You are pushing nearly 7000 lbs now, where as the G63 was 100 lbs or so shy of 6000 lbs. Not that 6000 lbs is light, but adding another 1000 lbs is not something that can be ignored.

 

I would think the weight of the motors at each wheel would result in different handling, especially in aggressive cornering.

 

I almost bought a gwagon ten years ago but knew I couldn't handle going to the gas station every three days if I daily drove the car. I'm happy they made this ev version.

 

The means charging works for you with your commute right? How many miles is your commute? The range is still less than the combustion version, no?

 

bruh, who’s commuting 240 miles in a g wagon every day?

 

I totally get where you are coming from with that but
It can still be a very comfortable and quiet ride I suppose, especially with the 2025 improvements (at least as seen in the ICE at least).

 

Another thing is, the other forum member mentioned didn't consider G-wagen because don't want to keep filling up, I was thinking with the range on the electric one being less than the ICE (is it?) then don't you have to recharge even more often?

 

cuz you can charge at home overnight and not have to make a stop to get gas even if only for a few minutes. if on a raodtrip, then ice is significantly more convenient

 

I guess the other forum member doesn't usually go road tripping.

 

to answer your question, range is definitely a lot more on ICE. The 580 gets around 300 (at best case I believe) on full charge where I get 475 miles on my 550. Also, If Mercedes is anything like my Tesla, you pretty much only charge to 80% so the daily useable is much less. It's not a negative, but something one should be aware of when buying electric. I just wish they had a hybrid G

 

I see, thank you for answering my curiosity.

Are there recommendations on how to plan the route to not have to deal with charging on the go? Or if charging on the go, the best use of time? What about those who have cold temperatures in the winter or even snow, what is the rated range then?

I fully understand not a lot (no one) roadtrips with a G-wagen but I was curious, and I guess curiosity killed the cat.

 

I still have a couple months until i get my G580 delivered, but i expect to be able to take this thing on road trips.

I've had tesla's with similar or lower range than the G580 and I've road tripped them just fine.
I think the game changer here is that the g580 can use tesla superchargers in addition to all the other CCS chargers out there.

This has a decent charging curve from 10-50%, so i think that optimizing your charge time is probably leaving home with a battery at 100%, then charge from 5-10% up to 50-70% whenever you want to take a restroom/snack break.

I plan on road tripping this when i get the car. will report back when i get it.

 

Love the G580, but just a heads-up: like most EVs, range drops fast over 60mph. At 75–80+ mph, I’m seeing closer to 180 miles vs. the rated 239. This thing is a brick in the wind—amazing in the city, but not built for efficient road trips. Use the advanced power management settings and ECO+ mode to cut drain from climate and comfort features. Also, if you plan to use Tesla Superchargers, get a 5-foot NACS extension cable. The rear-side port makes reaching Tesla’s short cords a pain.

Would love to learn from your experience!

 

Ha ha ha ha ha.....in my short commute IF I BEHAVE (not often) I get about 12mpg (and I am in the station AMG station wagon). We become intimate with the gas pump....

 

EVs are more efficient than ICE in stop and go traffic right?

 

Congrats! Look forward to hearing your impressions.

 

In my experience, EVs are generally more efficient in city driving, though there are exceptions. For example, some hypermilers running overinflated tires have shown that at around 35 mph, EVs can achieve peak efficiency, but that’s not how most people drive.

This brings up an interesting point about the Mercedes G580. Its most energy-efficient mode uses intelligent recuperation, and I’ve noticed it allows the car to coast almost friction-free. That means it’s not recovering as much energy as it would in stronger regen modes. I wonder if Mercedes has data showing that, in some cases, free-rolling actually conserves more power than aggressive energy recovery.

 

If long distance, you'll have to plan with charging on the go. At least with Tesla and super charger, we always planned it during lunch or at best, during over night stay. But we didn't road trip much (newborns). I assume same is with G.

as far as cold, it'll kill the battery. Range will be like half. I assume the G comes with a heat pump - that was a game changer on our teslas.

 

Based on road topology and whether there's a car ahead of you or not it chooses sailing vs unnecessarily slowing the vehicle down. It's more energy efficient to take advantage of the car's momentum if you don't intend to slow down much. This is why I largely dislike one-pedal driving. If you take the foot off the accelerator for any reason, it starts slowing the car down and excessively so that you have to immediately accelerate again. That's always a net negative. It will use more energy to accelerate the car back up than it recuperated slowing it down.

 

The regen helps, I heard a/c is also more efficient on EV than ICE, but not heating (unless it has a heat pump?)

 

Fair to say we should go on a test run and have a feel and be comfortable with the range and everything before going on an actual road trip. The opening of the superchargers is a welcome change.

 

agreed.

 

You all probably know this but I accidentally found this out the other day regarding the regen settings. If you hold the right paddle shift down and press the left it goes to auto regen drive mode. I love this- the car decides to go harder on the regen when there are cars in front of me and coast when nothing in front of me. Also, the setting saves in the memory so I don't need to change it every time I get in the car. Paddle shift again to go back to defualt.

 

That's interesting, I never knew it had auto regen. I have to try it one of these days.