Kreisel Electric Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen: Video

ELECTRIC energy company Kreisel has converted a Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen to full electric power, with 360kW of instantaneous power coming from 80kWh of battery packs that are housed both under the bonnet and in the rear of the vehicle.

We don’t know if the G’s legendary off-road credentials have been retained with the electrified variant, but on-road this vehicle will sprint from zero to 100km/h in just 5.6 seconds. The 420kW, twin-turbo V8 petrol-fuelled AMG G63 covers the same dash just 0.2 of a second quicker and is a lot less environmentally friendly.

The G-Wagen was built in Graz, Austria, so it’s only fitting that Kreisel, an Austrian company, has enlisted the Austrian-born Arnold Schwarzenegger to promote the converted G in Europe and in the USA, where Arnie will be driving one of the prototypes in California.

“This amazing off-road vehicle as a clean and fast electric car? A dream has become real!” says the cigar-chomping Schwarzenegger at a media event in Europe.

Schwarzenegger is known for his love of big 4x4 vehicles, particularly Hummers, and in the past he had a H1 Hummer converted to hydrogen fuel in keeping with the clean air laws of his adopted home state.

Kreisel has developed electric-powered vehicles in the past including an electric plane. It also manufactures and sells home power storage systems, similar to Tesla’s Powerwall, for European homes.

There’s no mention of the driving range of the electric G-Wagon, but if it were reasonable it could be the first electric vehicle we might want to drive!

3