Today, or when this article was posted, I turn 50. Unfortunately, I don't have any parents left in life, who wouldn't have been able to afford to give me a G 580 as a present, and I don't have any rich friends who can give me this car as a present either. But if I did, I would definitely want a Mercedes-Benz G 580 for my birthday. At the risk of sticking my neck out, I dare say that the Mercedes Benz Geländewagen in electric format is among the best and coolest you can get on four wheels. The Mercedes Benz G 580, as it is called, is truly marvellous. As you who followed me here on carscollection.com could read in my article about the Mercedes AMG G63, I really loved it apart from the hole it created in my wallet. I already mentioned in that article that this car was rumoured but not yet presented. Now it is and I have test driven it! The fuel economy problem is gone with the G 580. You certainly don't miss the power and you have all the power from the start but you don't see the notes blowing away with every metre you continue to keep the throttle depressed. Instead of paying around £2,000 for a full tank of fuel on the AMG G63, you'll pay under £500 for a fully charged battery on the G 580. When there's such a big price difference, it suddenly becomes fun to accelerate when it feels right. 

This car model is truly an icon and deserves a long article. But you can read my articles on both Mercedes G 500 and AMG G63. There I tell you a lot about the history of the Geländewagen model. Say what you will about this car model, but if you drive a Mercedes G-Class, you are received in a special and very respectful way. I know this after spending two weeks in a G 350 that Gran Turismo Events owned and which I had to drive down to Italy to supplement material for The Big Book of Italy by Peter Ternström and me . Then I had to travel around and complete material for the book and visit different hotels and restaurants. The reception you get when you arrive in a black Mercedes G-Class is quite different from when you arrive in other cars, unless they are sporty luxury cars that is. One of my stops was in the village of Fiesole above Florence in Italy where the picture below was taken.

Just like both G 500 and AMG G63 the Mercedes G 580 has a hefty price tag. That is one of the reasons why I have not bought one myself and will not be able to afford to buy a Mercedes G 580. Of course, it is possible to find slightly older versions of the G Class that are cheaper but unfortunately I have become a little comfortable after all the years behind the wheel and all the new loan cars I get to drive. That's one of the reasons why you can enjoy a little extra when you get behind the wheel of a car like the new Mercedes G 580.

There's definitely nothing wrong with the technology in the G 580! It has just about everything and then some. Because what new and super modern car can do a 360 degree spin in exactly the same place, a so-called "tank turn"? No car but one thing you can do with the Mercedes G 580. Then how necessary and useful it is, that's a whole other question. But it is fun. However, I had to write on paper when I picked up the car that I would absolutely not do it on hard ground like asphalt, the car apparently can't handle it. But on a sandy field down in Vadstena with my friend Thomas Kümmerling, who builds HMC Classic, where his daughter Cora rides with their horses, it went well. There was a 30 centimetre deep circle after I tried to do a "tank turn" with the Mercedes G 580. When I apologised and asked Thomas if he had a shovel with which I could dig the hole, he laughed and replied that it was fine and that he had a digging bucket with which he would fix the hole later. 

As I just mentioned, I took a trip down to Thomas Kümmerling in Vadstena to experience the G 580 on the motorway and see how it behaved. Driving-wise, I have absolutely nothing to complain about after all my years with a Jeep Wrangler 4xe. With the Jeep, I have become accustomed to driving with a "barn wall" on the road. What I was curious about was how the G 580 would behave energy-wise on the motorway. As you could read in the article about the Audi Q8 e-tron Dakar that I drove up to Åre back and forth from Stockholm. I realised that my driving style is not adapted to large electric cars. With my driving style, I have to stop all the time and charge, which becomes incredibly tedious in the long run. Unfortunately, there is no difference with the Mercedes G580. On the motorway, it is advantageous to be behind a truck and "slip streams" for lower wind resistance and stay below the prevailing speed limit. Unfortunately, it is not a driving style that suits me as I like to live a time-efficient life. However, without losing my driving licence if I get stopped. On a fully charged battery, the car claims to cover 470 kilometres. You don't do that if you drive as usual and it is cold as it is here in Sweden half the year. But on the other hand, you won't get that far on a full tank in the Mercedes AMG G63 and then it costs the earth. Fortunately, it does not in the Mercedes G 580, which adjusts that particular thing to make it absolutely fantastic to drive. Of course, I understand that I may not belong to the customer group that will drive a Mercedes G Class regardless of whether it runs on petrol or electricity. For that customer group probably does not care whether it costs SEK 500 or over SEK 2,000 to drive 400 kilometres. Then a genuine Mercedes AMG G63 fan says that it cannot be the same experience with a quiet electric car as with a powerful V8 engine. But it can. The Mercedes G 580 has an artificial sound that actually sounds really good and like a V8 engine.

The picture taken on Norrbron, which runs between Gustav Adolfs Torg and the Royal Palace, was taken on the way down to Riddarholmen where I took the photo on Mercedes G 580. When I drove over the bridge I saw that the flag on the palace was not hoisted. Most people know that this means that HM the King is not at home in the castle. When I turn right just below the castle, I notice that a light blue BMW M8 Competition Coupé came driving down from the castle, closely followed by a black Volvo XC90. Since I know that it is just such a BMW HM The King owns and drives, I looked into the car extra carefully when we met each other. And sure enough, there sat HM The King and Queen Silvia, who were probably on their way to Drottningholm to spend the weekend as this was a late Thursday night. As a fun curiosity, I dare say that if HM The King had looked into the Mercedes G 580 and seen who was driving, he would have recognised me. This is because of my years as Polestar's team photographer when Prince Carl Philip drove for that team in the STCC series. Once, at the STCC race at the Falkenberg track, which the Prince also won, HM The King was present. HM The King's Marshal was going to introduce me to HM The King but was then interrupted by HM The King who said, I know who James is. Flattering! Now HM The King was probably busy looking at the Mercedes Benz G 580 that HM The King met. 

It's always difficult to return a car after the week it's on loan from the manufacturers. Returning the Mercedes G 580 was particularly difficult. This car is really complete. If you live in the city and are not going to drive long distances, this car fits you like a hand in a well-sewn glove! After returning the G 580, pretty much the same thing happened that I wrote about in article about the G63 AMG. At that time, there was a solid grey G63 AMG with carbon fibre interior parked outside Mercedes-Benz in Akalla, where they pick up and drop off the press cars. At that time, the press car was painted in metallic brown and had a wooden interior. Then the grey car I saw was the one that had been used as a press car before and was taken out of service and was to be sold. I asked if I could take that car out for a while and take some pictures. I was allowed to, so it was included in the article with the title "If I could choose". Because that's exactly how I would want to specify my car if I bought a new one. One of my Volkswagen Amarok was painted in just such a solid grey colour. Shortly after I had this black G 580 with wood interior, I saw some journalist colleagues who had a solid grey G 580 with carbon fibre interior in their articles and features on the web. I asked my contact at Mercedes-Benz what kind of car it was. He told me that the black one I had was damaged, so they had to take the demo car and use it as a press car. I asked again if I could take that car out and take some pictures, and I did. So when I get rich I will know exactly which car to buy and in what colour it should be and with what interior.

Mercedes Benz G 580 with EQ-Technology

Price: From SEK 1 725 000. Edition One 2 273 700 SEK, the car in the article.

Motor: Electric. Max system power Battery 120 kWh of which 116 kWh usable. Charging power AC/DC 11 kW/200 kW. Heat pump.

Power: 587 hp (432 kW), total torque 1164 Nm.

Gearbox: Reduction gearbox, four-wheel drive

Acceleration: 0-100 km/h: 4.7 s

Top speed: 180 km/h.

Range: 434 km.

Luggage volume: 620-1 990 litres.

Weight: 3 010 kg

Dimensions: length 4 620 mm, width 1 930 mm, height 1 990 mm.

Web: www.mercedes-benz.com