Dusseldorf. Do you remember when climate was still an issue? Donald Trump was president for the first time in 2018. But the USA was still part of the Paris Climate Agreement, Greta Thunberg formed the international movement “Fridays for Future” from her school strike on the streets of Stockholm – and the then Daimler boss Dieter Zetsche stood on a stage in Detroit, together with Arnold Schwarzenegger, to present the new G-Class.
As usual, the iconic off-road vehicle with its V8 engine hummed onto the stage, but that didn’t fit with the green spirit of the time at all. And so Schwarzenegger extracted a promise from the Daimler boss that many in Stuttgart may regret today. Zetsche promised live in front of an audience: The G-Class will be electric.
The engineers in Stuttgart and Graz got to work. The result was six years later at the Chinese motor show in Shanghai and eight years later in front of our editorial team: the Mercedes G 580. The fully electric version of the off-road legend. An appearance in matt light blue.