Mercedes has confirmed it will produce an all-electric version of its classic G-Class off-roader, which will be potentially named the EQG. This would give the luxury brand a new competitor for the Tesla Model X and the upcoming all-electric Range Rover. The German company had recently discussed ending production of the 4x4 over the viability of making it electric.

Mercedes’s Head of Digital Transformation, Sascha Pallenberg, who made the announcement on Twitter, quoted Daimler CEO Ola Källenius, who reportedly said, “There will be a zero-emission EV version of the Mercedes-Benz G-Class. In the past, there were discussions about whether we should eliminate the model, the way I see things now I'd say the last Mercedes to be built will be a G-Class.”

Mercedes has not yet confirmed the new all-electric off-roader’s name, but the brand has filed a copyright for the “EQG” nameplate, which is in line with Mercedes’s current all-electric line-up, which includes. the EQC SUV and EQV luxury MPV.

The technical specifications for the all-electric Mercedes G-Class are still a mystery, but the SUV is expected to feature the same drivetrain components as the Mercedes EQ series. Like the EQC, the new EQG could include two electric motors and an 80kWh battery pack, which would deliver 403bhp, 760Nm of torque and four-wheel drive.

When the second-generation G-Class debuted in 2018, Daimler’s then CEO, Dieter Zetsche, told Auto Express that Mercedes would go fully electric by 2022, despite the fact that electrification was not high on the G-Class’s priority list out of fear of lackluster sales and apprehensions about the additional weight of the battery packs.

Zetsche added that hybridization might be a possibility for the G-Wagon, yet the recent introduction of Land Rover’s all-electric Range Rover and the new all-electric Fisker Ocean SUV seem to have convinced Mercedes that all-electric drive is the future.

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Coincidentally, the Mercedes-Benz G-Class has just turned 40. A boxy powerhouse, the vehicle features exposed hinges and starts at £94,000 for the base model. Originally, it was introduced to rival the Range Rover yet it has since become a much-admired massive off-roader.

The press pack distributed in 1979 when the G-Class was launched praised the cross-country vehicle as built for the “maximum variety of use”. It went on to become the first-generation G-Wagen employed by fire departments, armies and Nato and even won the Paris-Dakar rally.