- 5 days ago
Mercedes-Benz GLC 400 with EQ Technology takes over from the EQC, and the comparison is the whole point of this detailed EV review. The new electric GLC charges far faster, uses an 800-volt architecture, offers vehicle-to-home and vehicle-to-grid support where available, and brings a much larger battery and stronger performance than its predecessor.
Inside and out, the car is bigger than the old EQC and closer in size to a GLE than a traditional GLC. The review covers the frunk, the 570-litre boot, rear-seat space, MBUX infotainment, the passenger display, towing capacity, and the practical details that matter in a premium electric SUV. On the road, the GLC 400 impresses with 489 horsepower, rear-wheel steering, strong acceleration, and a claimed range that makes long-distance EV driving far easier than before.
It is also tested for real-world charging, highway range, diagonal traction, parking, and daily usability, with honest notes on wind noise, braking feel, and some awkward control choices. The pricing discussion is especially sharp, showing why buying this model can feel like a major discount compared with the EQC era.
Created for viewers searching for Mercedes-Benz GLC review, electric SUV test drive, EQC successor, EV range test, charging comparison, MBUX review, and premium electric car buying advice. A strong pick for automotive review fans, Mercedes EV shoppers, and anyone comparing the GLC 400 with EQ technology to the Audi Q6 e-tron, BMW iX3, or other luxury electric SUVs.
Inside and out, the car is bigger than the old EQC and closer in size to a GLE than a traditional GLC. The review covers the frunk, the 570-litre boot, rear-seat space, MBUX infotainment, the passenger display, towing capacity, and the practical details that matter in a premium electric SUV. On the road, the GLC 400 impresses with 489 horsepower, rear-wheel steering, strong acceleration, and a claimed range that makes long-distance EV driving far easier than before.
It is also tested for real-world charging, highway range, diagonal traction, parking, and daily usability, with honest notes on wind noise, braking feel, and some awkward control choices. The pricing discussion is especially sharp, showing why buying this model can feel like a major discount compared with the EQC era.
Created for viewers searching for Mercedes-Benz GLC review, electric SUV test drive, EQC successor, EV range test, charging comparison, MBUX review, and premium electric car buying advice. A strong pick for automotive review fans, Mercedes EV shoppers, and anyone comparing the GLC 400 with EQ technology to the Audi Q6 e-tron, BMW iX3, or other luxury electric SUVs.
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MotorTranscript
00:00imagine it's 2019 you walk into a mercedes dealership and ask for a 30 discount the stuff
00:08goes all rotfl on you and you leave feeling sorry for yourself now i don't have a time machine but
00:16i do have the new mercedes-benz glc 400 with eq technology on the set and i'll show you why
00:22buying
00:22this car today is like going back in time seven years and getting 30 off on a brand new vehicle
00:30let's go i realize ev can be a bit controversial and despite the car makers best efforts to make
00:41the user experience stress-free one charging issue during that one very important trip can make you
00:49apprehensive towards immobility and of course this charger doesn't work and i have no idea
00:54why the car wouldn't connect and in order to get here i had to call the security to open the
01:00gate
01:01and i suppose they don't speak english similarly as i don't speak i don't know spanish if i'd be
01:10charging somewhere in spain and i would be using a supermarket parking lot that's locked for the night
01:20so yeah there we are then that's why i decided to start my review today at a fast charger one
01:29that
01:29can charge the glc from 10 to 80 percent in 22 minutes as this car peaks at 330 kilowatts for
01:37comparison the eqc which the glc with eq technology succeeds could dc fast charge up to 110 kilowatts
01:45and charging from 10 to 80 percent took 40 minutes and that's with a 15 kilowatt hour smaller traction
01:52battery today it's possible to ac charge up to 22 kilowatts while the eqc only had a 7.4 kilowatt
01:59onboard charger and that's just the beginning of good news the glc now features an 800 volt architecture
02:06in some markets a 400 volt dc converter is offered as an option the glc also features vehicle to home
02:14and vehicle to grid assuming local infrastructure supports these technologies the glc has grown in
02:23size both compared to the eqc and the current glc with the combustion engine which is offered alongside
02:29the electric glc the car is 484 and a half centimeters long over 191 centimeters wide and over 164 centimeters
02:40high the wheelbase is over 297 centimeters this makes the electric glc longer than the audi q6 e-tron the
02:48bmw ix3 or the volvo ex 60. however if i hadn't read the glc spec sheet i would have never
02:56guessed it was
02:57so big in fact it's closer to the gle than to the combustion engine glc i'll leave aside the illuminated
03:06grille and the stars and the headlights and the taillights love them or hate them most premium cars
03:10these days feature fascias of debatable elegance you can configure the car without this chop symbol
03:17but you have to be careful as the illuminated grille is part of some package which is bundled
03:22with many options which you may actually want but never mind the grille we have a frunk firstly
03:30mercedes anticipated that it would actually be used so instead of searching for the release lever
03:36in the driver's footwell i can simply press the mercedes badge on the bonnet secondly the frunk has a
03:43capacity of 128 liters 100 liters vda so you can pack much more than just a charging cable the only
03:50drawback is a lack of a drain plug so don't put ice in here to chill your drinks at a
03:57party
03:59before we look inside the boot a word about this panel connecting the rear lights it's full of scratches
04:05this isn't the quality one expects from mercedes who washed this car chimpanzees
04:12the 570 liter boot is over 10 larger than the eqc the dimensions are 105 centimeters deep by the floor
04:20110 centimeters wide between the wheel arches and 40 centimeters to the cargo cover with the floor in
04:26the upper position or 50 centimeters with the floor in the lower position the cargo cover fits under the
04:32floor sort of there are shopping bag hooks a 12 volt outlet buttons for folding the second row backrests
04:39as well as for lowering the load lip that's if you have the optional air suspension
04:47and there is also a button to deploy the optional tow hitch and that's on the tailgate up here
04:54the electric glc can tow up to 2400 kilograms versus the eqc's 1800 kilograms
05:04a large boot means a wide range of luggage organization options three suitcases of different
05:10sizes fit easily with room left to spare i can stack them vertically one on top of another or one
05:17behind the other and i could still fit at least one medium-sized hard shell suitcase or a few soft
05:23pieces
05:23of luggage you can easily pack for that holiday for three four people and enjoy yourself assuming
05:29charging infrastructure doesn't fail you a big positive is good boot lighting at night as well
05:37as lighting around the car car makers have finally realized that more important than projecting a
05:43prestigious logo is ensuring that the customer doesn't break their teeth on a crooked sidewalk
05:48because with that incisor missing your personal prestige evaporates
06:00the pop-out door handles in mercedes nowadays are less no they're not less bad they're just as bad as
06:08they used to be when they debuted in the s-class and the eqs i mean anyway the doors don't
06:19cover the seals
06:20and the seals are also very wide which can be a bit difficult for older people to get in and
06:26out because
06:27they have to like drag their drag their feet across all this
06:40the rear seats offer ample legroom and headroom i'm 175 centimeters tall and the driver's seat is set
06:47to my driving position there are large door pockets and armrests with cup holders and because the rear
06:53backrest split 40 20 40 there's good access to the boot there are also usb-c ports depending on the
07:02options selected there may be controls for an additional climate zone in the rear the side seats
07:07can also be heated however something that never ceases to amaze me is that a company with money like
07:13mercedes can't design an electric suv the size of the g-wagon so that the middle passenger in the rear
07:19has legroom if you work at mercedes and know anything about the shape of the floor and the
07:25tunnel in the electric glc please let me know what went wrong and why i remember when mbux debuted in
07:34the 2018 mercedes-benz a-class and it was probably the best infotainment system on the market at the
07:41moment and also for many years it remained among the best even though mercedes gradually made the
07:47interaction worse for example by eliminating those tiny touchpads on the steering wheel and replacing
07:53them with touch buttons which we have here and they're not particularly good anyway mbux grew from
08:02two small screens into like this one meter wide single screen kind of thing divided into three
08:10sections and it just stretches across the entire dashboard you can opt out of the third screen but be
08:16careful with the options as probably connected to something that you actually might want to have
08:20now what's the point of having this third display i keep hearing it's a great way to keep your kids
08:26or
08:26your better half occupied and i'll leave that without a comment what's on the third screen well primarily
08:35multimedia you can watch listen click around without messing up what the driver sees on the central display
08:42is this safe well different cars have different solutions preventing the driver from seeing what's
08:47on the passenger screen in my opinion the best solution is a screen the contents of which is
08:53invisible to the driver it can be permanently invisible or only when the car is in motion mercedes
08:59however decided on a different approach and the screen's content is visible as long as the driver
09:04doesn't glance at the screen too often in my opinion this isn't the best solution because when i see
09:09something moving out of the corner of my eye my natural instinct is to glance there for example
09:15because someone is watching my review when the camera detects that the driver is distracted the video
09:20playback pauses after two or three times the passenger can't resume playing the video for a while
09:26covering the camera doesn't help either as the system demands the driver's face be visible
09:32the infotainment system works okay it has large legible icons the navigation system is very
09:38good with rude guidance that takes into account charging stops several features such as 360 degree
09:44cameras are launched via physical buttons unfortunately the air conditioning is controlled
09:52from the screen also buried a few clicks deep in the menu is the panoramic sunroof control and
10:01most of these functions could be controlled with voice of course but a physical button would be faster
10:06especially since there is place for it up here next to the rearview mirror you could control the panoramic
10:13sunroof instead you get the eject button there's a dual wireless charger under the screen which
10:20primarily heats up the phone ventilation from below doesn't help nor does directing the cold air from the
10:27air vents just above the charger there are good cup holders a large storage compartment under the armrest
10:33and a large glove box there's also a large shelf under the center console the door pockets are spacious
10:57the mercedes-benz glc 400 with eq technology has 489 horsepower over 80 horsepower more than the eqc 400
11:07promised energy consumption is around 17 kilowatt hours per 100 kilometers in the eqc this was over 22
11:14kilowatt hours claimed range for this car is between 568 and 715 kilometers with a 94 kilowatt hour traction
11:22battery in the eqc it was between 374 and 417 with an 80 kilowatt hour traction battery
11:33a two-speed gearbox helps achieve a longer range on the highway first gear has a ratio of 11 to
11:401 and is
11:41used for quick starts and towing second gear has a 5 to 1 ratio and engages when cruising at a
11:48constant
11:48high speed a heat pump is standard further reducing energy consumption regardless of whether you need to cool
11:54down or heat up the cabin torque has increased from 760 to 800 new meters weight has also increased by
12:03several dozen kilometers to 2535 kilometers meanwhile the 0 to 100 kilometers time has dropped from 5.1
12:12seconds in eqc 400 to 4.3 seconds in glc 400 i checked and i achieved a slightly better time
12:20both in sport and
12:21normal modes however emergency braking from high speeds can be quite taxing and don't expect to stop on a
12:29time but assuming it's dry the glc feels very agile with plenty of power and torque and this model also
12:50has rear wheel steering so this means that at low speeds the rear wheels turn in the opposite direction
12:56to the front wheels tightening the turn the turning circle by almost a meter and at higher speeds they
13:04turn in the same direction as the front wheels increasing the car's agility
13:13speaking of maneuvering i'll do my reverse into the driveway parking test my street is four meters wide
13:19and i'm backing into a three meter wide gate the turning circle in the glc with rear wheel steering
13:26is 11.2 meters that's not much more than in a citroen c5 aircross which is also 20 centimeters shorter
13:34normally i try to drive close to the left gate post but in the mercedes the emergency braking system
13:40intervenes fortunately it does this very gently but i still have to lift my foot off the accelerator
13:46and press it again to get the car moving again an alternative is to take a wider turn but then
13:53i'm too
13:53close to the right post fortunately nothing changes at home so once you find the perfect line you'll know
13:59how to park when you're out and about you can use the automatic parking feature it works well enough
14:06although i think it performs some maneuvers too wide and gets unnecessarily close to obstacles
14:19so
14:22so
14:32so
14:41initially i thought the glc had good visibility but then i almost hit another car which disappeared
14:47behind the rear a pillar and the wing mirror worse still it didn't trigger any warning or emergency
14:55braking the glc is a pleasure to drive i appreciate the automatic recuperation which
15:05automatically slows the car down depending on the road conditions ahead you can also adjust the
15:11recuperation level using steering wheel paddles isa can be deactivated with a single top on the
15:17central display mercedes also has some of the best driver assistance systems on the market
15:22the car handles confidently in semi-autonomous mode but once the driver takes over there is virtually
15:28no unintentional braking or unnecessary warnings what more could one ask for i wouldn't mind better
15:36soundproofing wind noise especially at higher speeds is noticeable and it's got this unpleasant hum to it
15:47what about real world range assuming you're driving on a windless day at 120 kilometers per hour energy
15:55consumption is around 20 21 kilowatt hours per 100 kilometers for comparison the eqc used around 30
16:03kilowatt hours in such conditions with a 94 kilowatt hour traction battery this translates into real world
16:09range of around 450 kilometers after that when you're charging from 10 to 80 percent you're looking at a range
16:16of around 300 kilometers between charging stops now that's better than the 200 250 in the eqc which also required
16:2740 minute charging stops
16:34driving miss daisy style around town energy consumption drops to about 18 kilowatt hours per 100 kilometers
16:39so 520 kilometers range is achievable perhaps if i never exceeded 50 kilometers per hour and used eco mode
16:47i'd be able to crank out even more on a single charge but then let's not forget that weather isn't
16:53always
16:53ideal and a cold battery will cost you some range for something like six months in a year in central
16:58and
16:59northern parts of europe this is the 4matic all-wheel drive version so i'll perform my diagonal approach
17:05test i stop halfway up this incline with wheels on the diagonal with limited traction and then i try to
17:11get going again electric cars usually handle this situation very well as long as they have traction on
17:17at least one wheel due to the low ground clearance well it looks low but mercedes didn't get back to
17:23me
17:23regarding the ground clearance with and without air suspension anyway looks low i chose the easier line
17:29avoiding the rut which formed over the years in comfort mode sport mode and off-road modes the latter
17:36with ride height raised and finally with esp off the glc handled without a problem so i tried a more
17:44challenging line through the rut no issue here either of course i wouldn't recommend driving into deep sand
17:50using these low rolling resistance road tires but it passes the diagonal approach test with flying colors
18:23so
18:28so
18:29so
18:29so
18:29so
18:45i realize i'm reviewing the most powerful version of the glc but this is what mercedes had available
18:51at launch in the meantime the glc 300 and glc 250 versions have appeared in the configurator
18:58the latter is rear-wheel drive both have 85 kilowatt hour traction batteries
19:04the price difference between the glc 250 and this glc 400 base spec of course
19:11is around 6 000 euro which to be honest isn't very much in this segment
19:21prices of the mercedes-benz glc with eq technology start at 64 736 euro for the glc 250. then we
19:31have
19:31the glc 300 starting at 68 306 euro and finally the glc 400 starting at 71 281 euro this test
19:40car with
19:41options costs 100 000 767 euro so where's the 30 deal on the car you ask well back in 2019
19:51the eqc 400
19:53started at 71 000 euro and the car i reviewed back then cost around 90 000 and it wasn't as
20:00well
20:00equipped as this glc 400 i could easily delete 10 grand worth of options to level the playing field
20:07okay so they cost roughly the same but they don't because one the glc has better tech and performance
20:14and two prices in the eu increased on average by 27 since 2019 so you're getting a brand new car
20:24with
20:24better tech at about 30 discount
20:29what do you say to that it seems we have technological progress and the prices are going down
20:36sort of and how do you like the new mercedes-benz glc with eq technology and what was the best
20:43deal
20:43you or someone you know got on a new car let me know in a comment section below
20:50if you like my sarcastic down to earth and possibly mildly amusing car reviews join me every friday 3 pm
20:57central european time and don't forget to subscribe and like this video as it helps me with the youtube
21:04algorithm thanks for watching and i will see you in the next one