Tag Archives: Mercedes-Benz

NEW CARS

2026 Mercedes-Benz GLB: The Family EV That Thinks It’s a Concept Car

Mercedes-Benz has pulled the wraps off the 2026 GLB, and while its silhouette is familiar, almost everything beneath the surface has taken a decisive step into the brand’s tech-forward future. The boxy compact SUV returns with five- and seven-seat layouts, but with a major twist: at launch, it’s electric only, effectively stepping into the spot once occupied by the EQB.

Two EV Flavors: Long Range or Long Legs

At debut, the lineup consists of two variants, both built on an 800-volt architecture and powered by an 85-kWh lithium-ion battery.

GLB 250+: The Range Champion

The starter model—if you can call it that—features a rear-mounted 272-hp motor producing 335 Nm of torque. Acceleration to 100 km/h takes 7.4 seconds, but the real headline is range: an impressive 630 kilometers on a single charge. That puts it comfortably into long-haul territory for a compact family SUV.

GLB 350 4Matic: The Quick One

Above it sits the 350 4Matic, which keeps the same battery but adds a second motor on the front axle for a combined 354 hp and 515 Nm. With power sent to all four wheels, the 0–100 km/h sprint drops to 5.5 seconds. Range dips slightly to 615 kilometers, but that’s still highly competitive in its segment.

Mercedes says the GLB family will expand quickly. A more affordable electric model arrives next year, followed by 48-volt hybrid variants in several power levels with both FWD and AWD configurations.

EQXX-Inspired Style Cues

Mercedes didn’t reinvent the GLB’s proportions, but its detailing is lifted heavily from the brand’s newest design language. The front end borrows from the latest CLA and GLC, with a broader grille, crisper headlights, and star-shaped daytime running lights tied together by a thin light strip.

The rear is the real conversation starter. Vertical taillamps connected by a full-width light bar give off strong Vision EQXX vibes, right down to the repeating star signatures. It’s futuristic without going full spaceship—something Mercedes seems to be nailing lately.

A Tech-Forward Cabin with Screens for Everyone

Inside, the GLB moves even closer to the brand’s concept-car interiors. The highlight is the optional Mercedes Superscreen, a trio of displays including:

  • 10.25-inch digital driver display
  • 14-inch central infotainment touchscreen
  • 14-inch passenger screen

The dashboard is almost completely flat and minimalist, with very few traditional design elements—a deliberate shift toward a screen-first cockpit.

Under the glass sits the fourth-generation MBUX platform, now laden with AI support from Microsoft, Google, and a ChatGPT-4o-based virtual assistant. The system runs on the Unity game engine, hinting at a future where car interfaces look and behave more like modern consumer electronics—or even video games.

Pricing and Market Positioning

For now, only German pricing is official. The:

  • GLB 250+ starts at €59,048
  • GLB 350 4Matic starts at €62,178

That positions the GLB squarely in premium EV territory, but its combination of long range, family practicality, and bleeding-edge tech may justify the ask for buyers ready to go all-in on Mercedes’ electric future.

Source: Mercedes-Benz

News

Mercedes’ New Axial-Flux Motor Could Make Rear Brakes Obsolete

In the EV arms race, we’ve gotten used to bold claims: record-shattering motors, range numbers that sound like wishful thinking, charging tech that promises to “change everything.” But every once in a while, something genuinely disruptive rolls onto the stage. Mercedes’ subsidiary Yasa just unveiled one of those somethings.

A month after revealing an absurdly compact, absurdly powerful 12.7-kilogram axial-flux electric motor, the company is back with a bigger, stranger, and potentially industry-shifting announcement:
This motor may allow EVs to ditch their rear brakes entirely.

A Motor That’s Lighter Than Your Backpack—and Stronger Than a Supercar

Axial-flux motors are already known for wild power density, but Yasa’s new unit raises the bar. The company claims an unofficial record of 59 kW (80 hp) per kilogram, a figure that makes most conventional EV motors look like they’re skipping leg day.

Peak output? 1,020 horsepower.
Continuous output? Between 476 and 543 hp, depending on configuration.
And it pairs with Yasa’s own 15-kg dual inverter, forming a powertrain module that seems tailor-made for next-gen hypercars.

But the real twist is where Yasa wants to put it.

The Return of the Wheel Motor — But This Time It Might Actually Work

In-wheel motors aren’t new. They’ve been teased for years but rarely adopted because they’re typically heavy, unsophisticated, and murderous to unsprung mass. Yasa thinks it has cracked that problem.

By integrating its featherweight axial motor directly into the wheel assembly, the company says it can produce so much regenerative braking that physical rear brakes may not even be necessary. Not reduced. Not downsized. Deleted.

That’s not just an engineering party trick. Eliminating rear brakes — and possibly the entire rear axle assembly in some architectures — represents a stunning weight reduction:

  • Up to 200 kg saved on current platforms
  • Up to 500 kg saved on ground-up EV designs

For context, that’s roughly the curb weight difference between a Tesla Model 3 and a base Porsche 911.

Range Gains and New Design Freedom

According to Simon Odling, Yasa’s Head of New Technologies, the breakthrough isn’t just about shedding hardware. It’s also about capturing far more energy during braking — energy that currently turns into heat in EV brake pads.

More regen means more watt-hours back into the battery and, therefore, more range. And with huge mechanical components gone, designers suddenly have real freedom: new battery pack layouts, new aerodynamic concepts, cleaner underbodies, and optimized suspension kinematics.

In other words, this isn’t just a new motor. It’s a potential shift in the EV blueprint.

Where You’ll See It First

Mercedes-AMG will be the first to deploy Yasa’s axial-flux motors in upcoming high-performance EVs — specifically the all-electric AMG GT 4-Door sedan and SUV.

But don’t expect in-wheel motors on those models. They’ll use a traditional setup: one motor up front and two out back. Yasa’s in-wheel aspirations appear aimed beyond the near-term AMG lineup, toward next-generation platforms still being developed.

The EV world has been talking about reduced mechanical complexity for a decade. Yasa wants to take that idea to its logical extreme:
Let the motor do everything.
Drive the wheels. Slow the car. Capture the energy. Save the weight.

If the technology performs in the real world the way it does on paper, the EV landscape is about to get a lot lighter, more efficient, and maybe just a little weirder — in the best possible way.

Source: Mercedes-Benz

Story

Close-Up: The Mercedes-Benz CLS 350 CGI — The Shape That Changed the Game

Walk into the Mercedes-Benz Museum’s Youngtimer exhibit, and one car stops you in your tracks before you even get close enough to read the placard. Under the gallery lights, the Mercedes-Benz CLS 350 CGI looks less painted and more poured. Its body shimmers in Satin Alubeam Silver, a finish normally reserved for design studies—and in this case, created exclusively for the 2006 auto-show fleet. Even standing still, it looks like it wants to slip back into motion.

Liquid Metal, Frozen in Time

Satin Alubeam Silver wasn’t just another paint color. It was an optical flex—the kind of finish that bends reflections like soft metal, refracting light with a gentle sheen instead of a mirror shine. It turns the first-generation CLS into a visual event, guiding your eyes along the car’s long flanks, crisp shoulders, and subtly muscular haunches.

Complementing the skin are 19-inch multi-spoke alloys, bright silver and unapologetically elegant. They fill the arches just right, stretching the car visually and reinforcing what made the CLS a sensation when it debuted. When the Vision CLS concept broke cover in 2003, Mercedes expected interest. What they got instead was a global “build it now” mandate from the public. And so, in 2004, they did—barely changing a line.

The Four-Door Coupé That Rewrote the Script

Today we take the “four-door coupé” trope for granted. In 2004, it didn’t exist. Mercedes-Benz invented it, and the CLS became the brand’s first design-led halo for the 21st century.

Slim roofline. Flowing surfaces. A stance that looked tailored rather than assembled. Former chief designer Peter Pfeiffer and his team didn’t just style a car—they shifted the brand’s center of gravity. The CLS told the world that design, not just engineering, could be a reason to choose a Mercedes.

Inside: Tailored Confidence

Open the door of the museum’s CLS 350 CGI and you’re met with a soft, lingering leather aroma—remarkably intact nearly two decades later. The cabin is wrapped in semi-aniline nappa leather, supple and deep in its black-anthracite tone, contrasted by warm burr-wood trim. It’s classic early-2000s Mercedes, but done with extra intention: sporty, intimate, impeccably crafted. A car wearing a bespoke interior to match its bespoke exterior.

The Debut of CGI: When the Future Took the Stage

This particular CLS wasn’t just good-looking. It was a technology demonstrator, debuting Mercedes’ new CGI (Charged Gasoline Injection) system to the world at the 2006 Geneva Motor Show. Using high-pressure gasoline injection, the 3.5-liter V6 produced 292 hp (215 kW) while promising better efficiency—numbers solid even by today’s standards. Electronically limited to 250 km/h, it previewed the production CGI models sold from 2006 to 2010.

In other words, this wasn’t just a museum piece. It was a milestone.

A Mirror of Its Era—And a Marker for What Came Next

The CLS 350 CGI on display doesn’t just represent a car; it represents a shift in Mercedes-Benz’s identity. The early 2000s were the brand’s emotional awakening—more daring, more expressive, more design-forward. The CLS led the charge. It remains one of Mercedes-Benz’s most influential shapes, a design icon that hasn’t lost its edge.

A Time Capsule Called “Youngtimer”

You can find this CLS in Collection Room 5 as part of the Youngtimer exhibition, open until April 12, 2026. Ten icons from the 1990s and 2000s—complete with the fashion, lifestyle, and culture of their era—tell the story of a generation. Interactive retro gaming, early-Internet aesthetics, even AI-powered creative stations bring the turn-of-the-millennium spirit back to life.

But even among the neon colors and techno nostalgia, the CLS stands apart. Quiet, sculptural, confident—still doing what it did back in 2004.

Still rewriting expectations.

Source: Mercedes-Benz