The New Mercedes-Benz VLE Is a Private Jet for the Road

While S.U.V.s have raced to the forefront of sales in recent years, they’re often lacking something in the luxury space. Sure, many utility vehicles offer no shortage of visual appeal and interior refinement, but many are awkward to climb into—and cramped once you do. Mercedes-Benz has decided it can do better by reinventing a completely different segment: the luxury van.

Welcome to the new VLE, which Mercedes-Benz calls a “Grand Limousine.” Yes, that’s a somewhat aspirational label for what, on the surface, looks like a dressed-up, electric minivan, but this is actually a ground-up reinvention for the automaker’s biggest of haulers. It provide a unique and impressive experience for both the driver and passengers, but it’s not quite perfect.

The Mercedes-Benz VLE luxury van.

Mercedes-Benz

Design

There’s no denying the VLE’s overwhelming van-ness. While its edges have been rounded off in the name of style and aerodynamics, it has a fundamentally pedestrian shape that many will struggle to get beyond when considering this as a truly luxury machine.

Ponder it for another moment, though, and you’ll quickly start to warm up to the thing. The available 22-inch Monoblock wheels add some serious curb appeal, while the detailing around the grille and star-shaped headlights ensure you see the family connection to other models from the marque.

The tapered rear end is also charming, especially the vertical fins and rear lighting elements that create a shape unlike anything else on the road. It really does look good from some angles, but there are some low points too. The visible gap for the door mechanism running across the rear fenders is unfortunate, especially since more basic minivans showcase clean surfaces there.

The Mercedes-Benz VLE luxury van. — The VLE has a massive amount of cargo space, up to 152 cubic feet with the seats removed.

Mercedes-Benz

The inside is far more Mercedes, especially on the Exclusive Package trim that I spent most of my time both driving and being driven in. Up front, there’s a sweeping, triple-display MBUX Superscreen dashboard surrounded by your selection of material inlays. I liked the dark-brown birch wood on the Exclusive, but buyers will have their choice of materials, even carbon fiber if they’re feeling racy.

Front seats are spacious and comfortable, with ample padding as well as heating and ventilation. Visibility is generally good, too, thanks to a high seating position. My only concern is that those seats don’t recline particularly far, a slight disappointment if you wanted to kick back while charging.

All the more reason to check out the second row, which, in Europe at least, can be configured with either a three-seat bench or a pair of captain’s chairs. Our van was outfitted with the top-shelf Grand Comfort Seat setup, featuring a pair of second-row seats that feel like the business-class section on a narrow-body jet. That is to say, comfortable and well-appointed, but not particularly roomy.

The interior of the Mercedes-Benz VLE luxury van. — Up front in the cabin, there’s a sweeping, triple-display MBUX Superscreen dashboard surrounded by your selection of material inlays.

Mercedes-Benz

The biggest challenge is getting into those seats. There are fixed armrests on both sides, which you need to climb up and over or awkwardly swing in front of. Neither leads to a particularly graceful entrance or exit, a bit of a concern given the hopes of these vans showing up on the red carpet.

Once you’re in, you have full control over powered adjustment of the seats, either via Mercedes-Benz’s traditional door-mounted controls or via a small mobile device that clips into the back of the seat ahead. Through that controller, you can also adjust seat positions and activate other amenities, including deploying the VLE’s hallmark feature: the 31.3-inch 8K ultra-widescreen display that swings down from the ceiling. Here is where you can watch movies or play games. App selection is limited, really boiling down to Disney+ and YouTube, though an HDMI input mitigates that somewhat. Microsoft Teams is also built-in, along with a camera if you need to be seen from the rear seat.

All media is played back through a 22-speaker Burmester 3D sound system with Dolby Atmos support, an audio system that is smart enough to tailor the sound output based on the number of passengers in the vehicle. Sound can also be manually configured to only play up front, if, say, someone was sleeping in the back, or only in the rear, if someone’s watching a movie that the driver doesn’t need to hear.

Second-row passengers have a few other niceties, like a spindly but surprisingly sturdy fold-out table, perfect for a laptop or tablet, plus a slide-out, refrigerated compartment for keeping the refreshments chilled.

There is a third row as well, easily accessed by the second-row seats sliding and folding forward. I stand six feet tall and was impressed at the amount of headroom and legroom back there. It’s not nearly as comfortable a space as the front two rows, but perfectly acceptable for even longer rides.

And, no surprise, the VLE has a massive amount of cargo space, up to 152 cubic feet with the seats removed, which should be plenty enough to help an average kid move into an average dorm room. With both rows up, there’s still 28 cubic feet behind the third row, which is enough for a foursome’s worth of golf bags.

Power Train and Hardware

The VLE is available with either front- or all-wheel drive internationally, but it sounds like the North American market may only receive a dual-motor, all-wheel-drive VLE 400 4MATIC with 416 hp.

Those motors are powered by a battery pack—situated in the van’s floor— with a usable capacity of 115 kWh, which Mercedes says is enough for up to 435 miles on the European WLTP testing cycle. Yet that’s a bit more lenient than the American EPA test cycle. While the VLE hasn’t been subjected to the latter yet, expect an EPA rating somewhere north of 350 miles. And that battery pack charges at a maximum rate of 300 kW, which Mercedes claims is enough to pick up about 200 miles of range in 15 minutes.

Driving the Mercedes-Benz VLE luxury van. — The North American market may only receive a dual-motor, all-wheel drive VLE 400 4MATIC with 416 hp.

Mercedes-Benz

The VLE rides on a custom air-suspension setup with bespoke rear shocks that ingeniously tuck in on either side of the rear motor to maintain the VLE’s flat floor and cargo space. The air setup enables the VLE to raise or lower itself by 40 mm (roughly 1.5 inches). But, where other big Benz luxury rigs go up or down in the name of ground clearance, the VLE is more about aerodynamics and ease of entry and exit.

For tight maneuvers, the VLE’s rear wheels can turn opposite the front by up to seven degrees, giving this big van (10 inches longer than a GLS) the turning radius of a Honda Civic. At higher speeds, the rear wheels turn in line with those at the front, boosting stability.

Performance

To be honest, I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to first drive or be driven in the VLE, since this feels like a machine targeting the chauffeur lifestyle. But behind the wheel is where my day began, and I was immediately impressed.

I’ve driven—and been driven—in enough liveried vans over the years to know that throwing a few reclining seats in a cargo van does not make for a luxurious ride. They tend to bounce over the smallest of asphalt imperfections. Not the VLE. It really does glide over speed bumps and tired roads with the sort of character you’d expect of a Mercedes-Benz. That’s partly thanks to the air suspension, but much of it can also be attributed to the new chassis design built around that integral battery pack, creating a stiff platform that’s quiet and smooth.

Bugatti Just Restored a Veyron That Helped Set a World Record — The VLE glides over speed bumps and tired roads with the sort of character you’d expect of a Mercedes-Benz.

Mercedes-Benz

Smoothness is definitely the VLE’s forte. Yes, you can dial it over to Sport mode if you like, and, in this setting, the VLE 400 is properly perky, leaping forward with just a modest flex of your right ankle. But go surging into a corner and this big van feels like exactly that. It’ll sling through the corners with no shortage of grip and composure, but doing so feels neither right nor rewarding.

So, I put on my pretend white gloves, dial it back to Comfort, and really enjoy wafting around the streets of Bilbao, Spain, in this ultra-luxury van. The throttle and brake pedals have a long, relaxed travel, and the steering is equally slow, making for a machine that can be easily driven in a confident, calm way.

That makes for an excellent passenger experience. Considering that the van has four climate zones, I was able to dial in my perfect temperature from the big second row, where the windows drop all the way down if you want to get some air. They can also be covered by powered blinds if you’d rather catch up on some sleep or perhaps enjoy entertainment on that 31-inch display.

Is It Worth It?

Questions of value are difficult to answer with the VLE for a few reasons, the most troubling being that Mercedes-Benz hasn’t committed to a price for the thing yet. Beyond that, it’s hard to know exactly who this machine is for. Despite its handsome looks and detailing, it lacks a bit of the immediate curb appeal of some of Benz’s luxury-S.U.V. options, but in terms of spaciousness and appointments, it has them all beat.

Will the VLE kick off a new wave of tall, long Grand Limousines in the American market? Other brands have certainly seen success with this template in other geographic segments, particularly Asia, but I can’t say for sure that Americans are ready to follow suit. What I can say, though, is that the next time I get picked up at the airport, I’d be extremely glad to see my driver pull up in a VLE.

Specifications

Vehicle Type: electric luxury van
In Production Since: Will commence in 2027
Power Train: The VLE 300 has a single motor delivering 272 hp; the VLE 400 4MATIC has a dual-motor, all-wheel-drive setup delivering 416 hp
Battery: 115 kW (usable)
Performance: The VLE 300 can cover zero to 60 mph in 9.5 seconds / top speed of 111 mph; the VLE 400 4MATIC dispatches zero to 60 mph in 6.4 seconds / top speed of 111 mph
Pricing: TBD

Click here for more photos of the Mercedes-Benz VLE.

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