Second-gen Mercedes GLB arrives as a seven-seat SUV with a 392-mile range
Mercedes has introduced its new all-electric GLB SUV, which will go on sale early 2026 with seven seats and an asking price of around £50,000.
The electric GLB is built on Mercedes’ dedicated MMA EV platform with 800V charging hardware shared with the compact CLA saloon. Like the CLA, it can charge at speeds of up 320kW, making it one of the quickest-charging SUVs of its size.
Initially, the GLB will offer only one battery option: an 85kWh unit. The rear-wheel drive, 260bhp Mercedes GLB 250 is the most efficient model in the range, capable of up to 392 miles on a single charge. The all-wheel drive 350 4Matic sacrifices some range for 349bhp.
Shortly after the launch, Mercedes will add a GLB 200 entry-level model, which will send 221bhp to the rear wheels and offer a smaller 58kWh battery good for some 280 miles of range.
Bi-directional vehicle-to-load (V2L) charging will arrive later in the year as an over-the-air update, while an optional DC converter to use the UK’s commonplace 400V public charge points is available as a £850 option.
To add more space to the second and third rows of seats compared with the first-generation model, Mercedes has extended the GLB’s wheelbase to 2.9 metres. Headroom has grown too, with up to an additional 35mm for the driver, 64mm for the middle passenger, and 100mm for those in the rearmost seats.
With the third row of seats in place, the Mercedes GLB has 48 litres of boot space. Folding those down, along with the second row, opens things up to 1,605 litres. A 127-litre ‘frunk’ is situated under the bonnet, which is big enough for three footballs, according to Mercedes.
Up front, the GLB goes all-in with the screens and is available with the optional Superscreen arrangement borrowed from Mercedes’ S-Class flagship, introducing a 38.25-inch three-screen setup running the width of the dashboard. Not dissimilar to the CLA, the main touchscreen is a floating unit in the middle of the dashboard, with hand-operated air vents underneath.
Other manual additions to the cabin include physical rocker switches on the steering wheel for the audio volume and adaptive cruise control.
The car runs the latest version of the Mercedes MBUX infotainment suite, packing supercomputer-like levels of functionality. AI-assisted functions from Google, including Google Gemini AI, are also integrated into the system.
When it comes to external styling, Mercedes has given the GLB a two-box SUV bodystyle, not wholly dissimilar to that of the G-Class. Up front, the GLB gets a distinctive front panel with 94 individual LED three-pointed stars that light up in different patterns when the driver enters or exits the car.
The iconic Mercedes logo is placed at each end of the LED lights, and to remind you that you’re in a Mercedes, there are an additional 158 stars etched into the sunroof.
No other similarly-sized crossover comes with seven seats as standard. However, the Mercedes GLB’s footprint positions it against the likes of the Tesla Model Y, Audi Q4 e-tron, and the Volkswagen ID.4. Other seven-seaters are either cheaper – the Peugeot e-5008, for example – or larger and more expensive, such as the Volvo EX90 and Kia EV9.
