Seven seats, zero tailpipe emissions, and a range that doesn’t make you sweat on the school run? Mercedes has just pulled it off with the new GLB. This isn’t some cramped city pod; it’s a proper, grown-up family wagon that proves you can haul the entire circus without torching the planet. Second generation, fully electric, drops the old EQB badge and simply calls itself GLB again. Same clever bones as the sharp new CLA, just stretched, lifted and given room for everyone plus the dog.
Outside, it’s grown ten centimetres – six of them between the wheels – so it now looks like it actually means business. There’s a glowing panel up front studded with 94 tiny LED stars, a full-width light bar at the back, and a bluff, upright nose that says “I’m here to carry stuff, not to slice the air like a scalpel”. Drag coefficient of 0.28 isn’t going to win any wind-tunnel beauty contests, but it still beats most seven-seat bricks on wheels.
Inside is pure Mercedes calm: clean lines, expensive-feeling materials and no unnecessary drama. Tick the box for the MBUX Superscreen and the entire dashboard becomes one giant sheet of glass with up to three displays, including one just for the passenger who’s tired of craning their neck. Navigation runs on live Google Maps, the car plans charging stops before you even realise you’ll need them, and the panoramic roof can go from clear to opaque with a button press thanks to some wizardry involving liquid crystals. The software is the new MB.OS, updated over the air while you’re asleep, so tomorrow your car might be cleverer than it was today.
Space is where this thing laughs at the competition. Five or seven proper seats, and the rearmost pair aren’t a joke – two individual chairs that even a 1.71 m adult can survive in without filing for divorce. Doors open wider, the middle row slides fore-and-aft, boot is 540 litres with five seats in place, 1,700 when everything’s flat, and there’s a 127-litre frunk under the bonnet – the biggest in the Mercedes lineup. Groceries, buggies, hockey bags and moody teenagers all disappear without a fight.
Under the floor sits an 85 kWh battery on an 800-volt architecture. Translation: up to 631 km of real-world-beating range. Yes, it’s a touch less than the sleeker CLA because physics still exists, but for something that can swallow seven humans it’s frankly ridiculous. Entry-level GLB 250+ will gulp 320 kW at a fast charger; the range-topping 350 4MATIC shovels 260 kW through all four wheels when the road turns slippery, yet normally stays rear-driven to save juice. It’ll tow two tonnes and carry 100 kg on the roof, so your boat or your e-bikes won’t be left crying in the garage.
Safety tech is borderline sci-fi: eight cameras, five radars, a dozen ultrasonic sensors and a 3D map that shows you what’s lurking round the next bend before you get there. Automatic lane changes, predictive cruise control – it’s the sort of thing that makes long motorway slogs almost relaxing.
Prices aren’t out yet, but expect premium money that doesn’t require a second mortgage. What matters is that this GLB finally makes electric motoring work for families who actually have lives, luggage and offspring.
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