It's rare to see a safe and stable corporation make a huge swing. Automotive planning is often measured in decades rather than months, and boring things like cost forecasting, risk analysis, and many layers of interdepartmental notes initiate before starting real manufacturing. By the metric, Mercedes VLE, electric luxury vans exist at all is incredible. Even strange? It is coming to the United States. If there was a country where vans could be successful, it wouldn't be here in 2026. However, Mercedes decided it was time to take a swing in a product category that does not currently exist and sell three versions: VLE, VLS and VLS Maybach. They are all completely electric, with a whole new platform and a dream that will make your eyes shine. And even though Mercedes says it won't hit our shores until 2028, I went to Spain to try the VLE on my own.
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"Van" and "luxury" rarely come together for a reason. Vans, especially Mercedes vans of the past, have practicality that collides with the idea of luxury status signaling. In America, vans are for families, not luxury jet-set transport. Mercedes fully understood this and took the opportunity to position and design the VLE as a luxury product and create an all-new electric van platform. From the go, Mercedes has increased structural rigidity to reduce NVH and packaged the rear suspension firmly to allow a perfectly flat floor. It's also baked in usually sound insulation as well as nice and soft bushings for ride comfort.
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It trimmed the VLE like a premium Mercedes. The trim level for the US is not final, but Mercedes representatives said that the long wheelbase version will be the base van and will only get a version with a standard panoramic roof, a Barmester stereo and a triple-screen MBUX infotainment system. The plan is to have an ultra-luxury variant with the King chair, like the one we drove, and a slightly more flexible version with a normal reclining seat, so all seats are attached to a convenient rail system and the 2nd and 3rd rows are completely removable, or partially removable, subject to seat splits.
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MBUX is also new and improved, especially compared to the previous. With a twin 14-inch display for the center and passengers, a new layer of software helps improve the MBUX experience. Many of the key controls, such as HVAC, driver assistance systems and settings, make screen real estate less, but are more accessible than before. Most features take a single menu jump and the MBUX central screen contains tons of shortcuts around it.
It's very flashy as a system, with tons of animations and life on every screen. This approach is also reflected in the dazzling 10.25-inch gauge cluster. But the combination of great resolution and high refresh rate makes the system feel incredibly smooth. But there are some mistakes. Access to heated seats and cooled seats was slightly less intuitive because they were sub-menus under climate control, and CarPlay. If not, VLE is a van. The seat position is high and commanding, but the pedals are practically parallel to the floor, and the steering column is angled towards the ceiling. As such, it can not shake its roots, and it clearly feels like driving a pedestrian. It has a light, linear input that makes it easy to drive smoothly, but it's hard to shake the feeling that the party is the back.
The front seat is comfortable, but the reclining seat in the 2nd row is business. Suddenly you can understand the material and quality that Mercedes has added to the VLE, especially compared to the main line one. Squeaks and rattles did not exist, but this is almost unheard of in modern Benz. It was quiet whispering at highway speed, and its ride was decent as well. It was incredibly soft and floating, but when the bump was too big it hit the bump stop. A point for a smooth ride, but a point away for poor body control.
Imagine a VLE cruising the interstate and I can see its objective appeal. It will make an incredible road tripper with a great range — 435 miles WLTP— and decent efficiency. I observed around 3.6 to 3.8 mi/kWh and had a heavy bias towards low-speed city and European highway driving. On American highways, it is much more likely to be low 3 seconds and high 2 seconds. But is it desirable enough for Americans? Especially will it cost about $100,000 for a neatly trimmed one? For that answer, we need to wait and see. But with the full-Benz specification with AMG Monoblock and two-tone paint, I think it's cooler than any SUV.
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