By Otsile Kadiege

Mercedes-Benz’s boffins at Affalterbach, Germany bolted on a medium-sized battery pack and an electric motor to the high-performance GLE 53 AMG Coupe resulting in increased efficiency and performance too.

Perfromance

The Mercedes-AMG GLE 53 Hybrid 4Matic+ is powered by an extensively revised 3.0-litre inline six-cylinder turbo-petrol engine developing 330 kW which means it gains 10 more kilowatts when compared to its non-PHEV derivative. The update measures include reprogrammed software and an additional nose cooler. The electric additional compressor could be omitted in the hybrid variant because the electric motor takes over its tasks such as electrical boosting.

The in-line six-cylinder is combined with a 100-kW electric motor, a traction battery with 31.2 kWh capacity and the fully variable AMG Performance 4MATIC+ all-wheel drive system. The system output of 400 kW and the maximum system torque of 750 Nm. Mercedes-AMG claims acceleration from standstill to 100 km/h takes 4.7 seconds. The propulsion only ends at an electronically limited speed of 250 km/h. Up to 140 km/h are possible purely electrically.

Charging

Mercedes-AMG claims the potent PHEV has an electric range of 80-86 kilometres (SUV) and 82-87 kilometres (Coupé) according to WLTP. A charger with 11 kW charging power is on board for charging with alternating current. In addition, a 60 kW DC fast charger for direct current is available upon request. This allows the battery to be charged from 10% to 80% charge within 20 minutes.

Exterior design and styling

The new Mercedes-AMG GLE 53 Hybrid 4Matic+ adopts the numerous design and equipment changes to the conventionally powered GLE models. In addition, the plug-in hybrid can be recognised by special design elements inside and out. The cooling air inflow integrated into the centre of the front guard is open, as an additional nose cooler is located here. Hybrid-specific badges on the front fenders and rear indicate the electrified drive. The GLE 53 Hybrid 4Matic+ comes standard with 21-inch light alloy wheels. The AMG high-performance brake system has internally ventilated brake discs measuring 400×38 millimetres on the front axle with six-piston fixed calipers and 370×32 millimetres on the rear axle with single-piston floating calipers.

Interior design and tech

Inside, the MBUX infotainment system includes hybrid-specific displays and functions. These include the charging menu and displays in the instrument cluster and on the multimedia screen, which provide information about, among other things, the charging status and temperature of the high-voltage battery as well as the electric range.