REVIEW
Mercedes-Benz VLE 300 Review
276 hp electric Grand Limousine with 706 km of WLTP range, tested on Spanish roads
2026 · fwd · 276 hp · 386 Nm
REVIEW
Mercedes-Benz VLE 300 Review
276 hp electric Grand Limousine with 706 km of WLTP range, tested on Spanish roads
2026 · fwd · 276 hp · 386 Nm
IN THIS REVIEW EXTERIOR INTERIOR DRIVING PERFORMANCE PRACTICALITY PRICE FINAL VERDICT VIDEO GALLERY
The Mercedes-Benz VLE 300 takes the traditional luxury MPV and moves it much closer to limousine territory. It combines huge interior space with an 800V electric platform, more than 700 km of WLTP range and an almost ridiculous amount of comfort technology. More importantly, it feels quiet, refined and surprisingly easy to drive for something this big.
PROS
- Exceptionally spacious and luxurious interior
- Quiet ride with lovely direct steering
- Rear-wheel steering makes it remarkably manoeuvrable
- More than 700 km WLTP range
- Very fast 800V charging
- Rear-seat technology is almost absurdly good
CONS
- Wide A-pillar noticeably limits forward-corner visibility
- Parking assistant can be painfully slow
- Sheer size still takes some getting used to
276 hp
POWER
386 Nm
TORQUE
8.9 sec
0-100 KM/H
180 km/h
TOP SPEED
EXTERIOR
The VLE is still unmistakably a very large people carrier, but Mercedes has worked hard to make it look more limousine than van. Our Velvet Brown test car certainly helped, especially on those huge 22-inch Monoblock AMG wheels. Star-shaped daytime running lights, the standing bonnet star and illuminated grille give the front plenty of presence.
Aerodynamics influence almost everything else. The door handles sit flush, the mirrors are sculpted and covered in cameras, and even the roof has been kept completely smooth. One of my favourite details is much simpler: the rear windows actually disappear completely into the sliding doors. I’m very happy Mercedes made the extra effort there.
INTERIOR
The VLE really starts showing off once you climb inside. Up front, the MBUX Superscreen dominates the dashboard, joined by a crisp head-up display, augmented-reality navigation and an impressively capable voice interface. The open-pore wood is lovely, and the mix of wood, aluminium, leather and ambient lighting feels genuinely stylish rather than simply expensive.
The rear cabin is where things get slightly ridiculous. Grand Comfort seats bring reclining, heating, charging, integrated tables and plenty of space, while a hidden 32:9 ultra-wide 8K screen drops from the roof with split-screen viewing, USB-C, HDMI and an 8-megapixel camera for video calls. There is even ISOFIX for the little VIPs.
DRIVING
For something measuring more than five metres long, the VLE 300 is surprisingly easy to place. The steering has a lovely direct feel, while standard rear-wheel steering turns the rear wheels by up to seven degrees in the opposite direction at low speed, reducing the turning circle to less than 11 metres. That makes a huge difference in towns and car parks.
Standard air suspension helps it feel more like a large luxury car than a van, and the ride is wonderfully quiet. There are annoyances, though. The wide A-pillar genuinely restricts your view into forward corners, and while the parking system can memorise and reverse up to 150 metres of your route, ordinary automated parking is still slow enough that I eventually just parked it myself.
PERFORMANCE
The VLE 300 is not pretending to be a sports car. Its single electric motor produces 203 kW or 276 hp and drives the front wheels, while top speed is electronically limited to 180 km/h. Current Belgian data puts 0-100 km/h at 9.2 seconds.
Efficiency is much more interesting here. During my drive the display showed 21.9 kWh/100 km, while an earlier run averaged 18.3 kWh/100 km. Someone else at the event even managed 13.8 kWh/100 km, which would theoretically translate into more than 800 km from the usable battery. The official WLTP figure remains 706 km.
PRACTICALITY
This is where being enormous pays off. Our VLE was configured with seven seats, while Mercedes allows configurations from five to eight. Even with every seat fitted, the boot still offers 795 litres, while removing the rear seats opens up as much as 4,078 litres. There is no frunk, but somehow I don’t think anyone is going to accuse this thing of lacking storage.
You can open only the rear glass instead of lifting the enormous complete tailgate, the seats can be repositioned electrically, and there seem to be USB-C ports everywhere you look. The fully opening rear windows are another unexpectedly useful touch. And yes, you can never have too many cup holders.
PRICE
In Belgium, the Mercedes-Benz VLE 300 starts at €88,709 including VAT in five-seat configuration. The six-seat version starts at €89,193 and the seven-seat VLE 300 at €89,750. Our Exclusive Line test car had considerably more equipment, but we do not currently have a confirmed price as tested.
This is serious money for an MPV, but the VLE is clearly trying to play in a different category. Mercedes wants it to compete as much with luxury limousines as with traditional people carriers, and the rear cabin certainly makes a convincing argument for that ambition.
JOHNNY DRIVES VERDICT
The VLE 300 is one of those cars that makes much more sense once you actually spend time in it. From the outside it is still a huge MPV, but behind the wheel it feels quiet, polished and unexpectedly manoeuvrable. The direct steering, rear-wheel steering and air suspension do a remarkable job of disguising its size.
Then you move into the back and discover the real reason this car exists. The Grand Comfort seats, enormous entertainment screen, Burmester audio and almost comical amount of technology turn it into a genuine luxury lounge on wheels. The wide A-pillar annoys me and the parking assistant needs more patience than I have, but overall this feels like a massive upgrade from the old V-Class. By the time I found Cinema mode, my conclusion was considerably less scientific: I need this car.
€ 88709
Base price (Belgium)
fwd
DRIVETRAIN
7
SEATS
Single-speed automatic
TRANSMISSION
© 2025 Jonas Van Gestel
