Several of you asked how this compares to the 2024 BMW X5 xDrive50e. I just got the chance to answer that question, check it out here: th-cam.com/video/D9ajjz0l1Ck/w-d-xo.html
Just got mine. Loaded it, but did not get the running boards. The car looks better without. Did not get soft close doors - I like a door to click shut. My mechanic said skip the air suspension as it will just be a big expense to repair it down the line and the ride is excellent without it. I absolutely LOVE driving this car.
How do you feel its performance in EV mode? I wonder how a 134 hp electric motor can drive such a heavy vehicle? I am seriously considering to have one of it. Your first hand info would be very helpful.
@ganouyang Around town, it's torque that make the difference and this electric motor has plenty. Even when driving in "gas only" mode ("B" mode) the car will still use the motor for starts from zero. In this kind of driving (under 40mph lots of stops) the car drives absolutely as well as my E350.
@@ganouyang Get the X50e. It comes with a 6 cylinder engine standard. The GLE450e when not charged has a 0-60 of like 7 seconds because it only makes it's power with everything combined. That means pure EV driving as well will be incredibly slow without constantly tapping the engine. I looked at both and the X50e also has hands free highway driving and standard air suspension so it has a better ride. Really the 450e doesn't offer enough imo
Researching the GLE450e I watched several reviews, and your 2 separate reviews were in the Top 3 "most helpful" that I found. A great job going over the specs, and your enthusiasm for the vehicle got me to the Dealership to test drive one. This week we picked up the Moonlight White with 21" AMG wheels and the AMG Exterior Package. Unfortunately, my wife loves the car so much she decided it is her daily driver to work, so I have not gotten much time in it yet. 🙂 Fantastic vehicle, and as you said "it checks all the boxes" for both a Mercedes-Benz and a bridge from ICE to EV. Thank you for the great reviews!
(8:13) ... "Battery Hold" does not just keep the ICE on full-time... It is constantly using the electric motors/battery, as well, as augmented by regen. If your foot is off the accelerator and the engine is warmed up with "Battery Hold" on, the ICE will surely turn off even while moving.
Robin, Your review is amazing. When I started this video, I started writing many Qs, however by the end of the video, all my Qs were answered except one, which might be a person one. Here is my Q: How good the driving experience of this car compare to BMW X5 hybrid? Pl share your views. Thank You.
This proves a plush, comfortable ride. If anything, I would wish it a touch more firm. I cannot directly compare air vs. regular, but I hope this helps.
Great review, Robin. Same as the commenter below, I would love to hear your review of the BMW X5 50e by comparison. These are the two vehicles I am considering switching to from my Tesla.
If you go in electric mode and run out the battery, would the car just default to 248 hp and 295 lb ft only? In essence, would you have to select the hybrid mode to get the most power / torque out of the system? GLE 350 is around 4608 lbs curb weight while GLE 450e is heavier 1144 lbs at 5754 lbs.
No. It defaults to acting like a normal hybrid. The battery doesn't completely deplete to zero charge before it transitions from EV to Hybrid driving modes. So you still get some battery life to work with. And it recharges a little bit every time you slow down and uses the electric motor to help when accelerating.
@@viewsonvehicles Thanks for the response. I was watching another review and it showed that you have to be really gentle or the engine kicks in if you accelerate quickly. I could totally see that happening with me merging to the expressway.
If you start out with a full battery and drive the 40-50-60 miles until the battery is depleted, and the gas/hybrid engine comes on to take over the rest of the trip, does the plugin battery get charged while you're on the gas engine? Or does the plugin only recharge from a home/wall/street charger?
Plug in hybrid sucks then. What is needed is for the engine to always be charging the battery and once full give you the option of switching to full electric mode or stay in hybrid mode. Requiring you to both get gas from a gas station AND plug in at home or using street charging stations is a time killing deal breaker. IMHO
@@bozkuhi Several Plug-ins do offer a recharge mode that will do exactly that. But that does hurt your fuel economy. The idea behind this is short trips, no need to use fuel, longer trips, still have gas station convenience. But that doesn't work for everybody.
Thanks for your reply. I'm looking into getting either this new GLE or the new BMW X5 plugin hybrid. I looked a several portable (not fixed) home chargers and they're under $300. The good thing about a PIHE is to get the full 40 miles of electric only takes a couple of hours. Thanks again.
Everything is good but the turbos are a bad move. They heat up insanely and melting plastic parts and contacts close by…. This car would be perfect, luxury and good fuel economy but without the turbo….. they almost made a perfect car.
Does MB use plastic parts in their engines? I thought that MB engines are more bulletproof at least compared to BMW who are notorious for using plastic intakes etc in their engines. Plastic interiors on cheaper BMWs is another disgrace but that is another story for another time.
Totally fair. I think some people just like keeping their hands on the wheel. The fastest reacting voice command system I've seen is Android Automotive OS used on Polestar. That one is probably faster than doing it yourself, or closer at least.
I do not know, but would guess, yes, premium. Also yes, you'd lose power on regular, as the computer would detect the lower octane and change the timing. But, no, very unlikely to cause any damage or void the warranty.
Several of you asked how this compares to the 2024 BMW X5 xDrive50e. I just got the chance to answer that question, check it out here: th-cam.com/video/D9ajjz0l1Ck/w-d-xo.html
Excellent review, very detailed. Keep up the great work!
Thank you so much!
Great detailed video just what I was looking for thanks
Glad it helped!
Just got mine. Loaded it, but did not get the running boards. The car looks better without. Did not get soft close doors - I like a door to click shut. My mechanic said skip the air suspension as it will just be a big expense to repair it down the line and the ride is excellent without it. I absolutely LOVE driving this car.
Glad you like it. Yeah, I'd skip the running boards too.
How do you feel its performance in EV mode? I wonder how a 134 hp electric motor can drive such a heavy vehicle? I am seriously considering to have one of it. Your first hand info would be very helpful.
@ganouyang Around town, it's torque that make the difference and this electric motor has plenty. Even when driving in "gas only" mode ("B" mode) the car will still use the motor for starts from zero. In this kind of driving (under 40mph lots of stops) the car drives absolutely as well as my E350.
@@ganouyang Get the X50e. It comes with a 6 cylinder engine standard. The GLE450e when not charged has a 0-60 of like 7 seconds because it only makes it's power with everything combined. That means pure EV driving as well will be incredibly slow without constantly tapping the engine. I looked at both and the X50e also has hands free highway driving and standard air suspension so it has a better ride. Really the 450e doesn't offer enough imo
@@Toobulahow about the highway?
Researching the GLE450e I watched several reviews, and your 2 separate reviews were in the Top 3 "most helpful" that I found.
A great job going over the specs, and your enthusiasm for the vehicle got me to the Dealership to test drive one. This week we picked up the Moonlight White with 21" AMG wheels and the AMG Exterior Package. Unfortunately, my wife loves the car so much she decided it is her daily driver to work, so I have not gotten much time in it yet. 🙂 Fantastic vehicle, and as you said "it checks all the boxes" for both a Mercedes-Benz and a bridge from ICE to EV.
Thank you for the great reviews!
Thank you so much!
(8:13) ... "Battery Hold" does not just keep the ICE on full-time... It is constantly using the electric motors/battery, as well, as augmented by regen. If your foot is off the accelerator and the engine is warmed up with "Battery Hold" on, the ICE will surely turn off even while moving.
Thanks , very detailed and well explained review.
You're welcome!
Robin, Your review is amazing. When I started this video, I started writing many Qs, however by the end of the video, all my Qs were answered except one, which might be a person one. Here is my Q: How good the driving experience of this car compare to BMW X5 hybrid? Pl share your views. Thank You.
Thank you very much! I am so glad to hear I could answer so many of your questions. I am currently working on scheduling a BMW X5 xDrive50e.
Wow! I had no idea @GugaFoods also does a great job at reviewing cars! 😁😄
Well done review. What do you think about the suspension? Air vs regular ?
This proves a plush, comfortable ride. If anything, I would wish it a touch more firm. I cannot directly compare air vs. regular, but I hope this helps.
Good review, now I am on the cross road between this one but with 3L engine and X5 3L plugin hybrid
I am working to get the X5 plug-in loan ASAP as I am super curious myself.
Great review, Robin. Same as the commenter below, I would love to hear your review of the BMW X5 50e by comparison. These are the two vehicles I am considering switching to from my Tesla.
Thank you very much! I am currently working on scheduling a BMW X5 xDrive50e.
If you go in electric mode and run out the battery, would the car just default to 248 hp and 295 lb ft only?
In essence, would you have to select the hybrid mode to get the most power / torque out of the system?
GLE 350 is around 4608 lbs curb weight while GLE 450e is heavier 1144 lbs at 5754 lbs.
No. It defaults to acting like a normal hybrid. The battery doesn't completely deplete to zero charge before it transitions from EV to Hybrid driving modes. So you still get some battery life to work with. And it recharges a little bit every time you slow down and uses the electric motor to help when accelerating.
@@viewsonvehicles Thanks for the response.
I was watching another review and it showed that you have to be really gentle or the engine kicks in if you accelerate quickly. I could totally see that happening with me merging to the expressway.
If you start out with a full battery and drive the 40-50-60 miles until the battery is depleted, and the gas/hybrid engine comes on to take over the rest of the trip, does the plugin battery get charged while you're on the gas engine?
Or does the plugin only recharge from a home/wall/street charger?
It has a battery hold mode to maintain battery life if you want to save it for a later time, but otherwise yes, plug it back in.
Plug in hybrid sucks then. What is needed is for the engine to always be charging the battery and once full give you the option of switching to full electric mode or stay in hybrid mode.
Requiring you to both get gas from a gas station AND plug in at home or using street charging stations is a time killing deal breaker.
IMHO
@@bozkuhi Several Plug-ins do offer a recharge mode that will do exactly that. But that does hurt your fuel economy. The idea behind this is short trips, no need to use fuel, longer trips, still have gas station convenience. But that doesn't work for everybody.
Thanks for your reply. I'm looking into getting either this new GLE or the new BMW X5 plugin hybrid. I looked a several portable (not fixed) home chargers and they're under $300. The good thing about a PIHE is to get the full 40 miles of electric only takes a couple of hours. Thanks again.
Everything is good but the turbos are a bad move. They heat up insanely and melting plastic parts and contacts close by…. This car would be perfect, luxury and good fuel economy but without the turbo….. they almost made a perfect car.
Does MB use plastic parts in their engines?
I thought that MB engines are more bulletproof at least compared to BMW who are notorious for using plastic intakes etc in their engines.
Plastic interiors on cheaper BMWs is another disgrace but that is another story for another time.
I counted the seconds for, hey mercedes- set temperature to 68 degrees…. Till that is done, it’s easier and faster to do it yourself just saying
Totally fair. I think some people just like keeping their hands on the wheel. The fastest reacting voice command system I've seen is Android Automotive OS used on Polestar. That one is probably faster than doing it yourself, or closer at least.
Is premium required or recommended? Can regular gas be used? Loss of power and/or voided warranty?
I do not know, but would guess, yes, premium. Also yes, you'd lose power on regular, as the computer would detect the lower octane and change the timing. But, no, very unlikely to cause any damage or void the warranty.
Thanks much. By the way excellent review. Still trying to decide between the GLE or X5 PHE
@@briandrane8158 Thank you very much! I am working to get my hands on an X5 xDrive50e. Hopefully soon.