I Drifted Mercedes' GLC EV Prototype Across The Desert. It's A Needed ResetAnd Better Than Any Gas Crossover

"Most people do not know just how amazing electric vehicles are going to be. I realized this when I was 300-ish feet up a towering, windblown dune in the Mojave Desert, in a vehicle canted at roughly 30 degrees. I was in a Mercedes-Benz GLC EV prototype that was sliding sideways, nose at the sky, maintaining a four-wheel high-incline drift with its limitless electric torque. I looked at distant mountains through the now-sideways panoramic sunroof, while the car showered itself in sun-sparkled sand, and my stomach drifted toward the center console. I felt frozen. It felt impossible."

"This is what you can do with 596 lb-ft of torque and some good motor control. And it's only going to get better from here. (Full Disclosure: Mercedes invited me to come along for a development drive of the new GLC with EQ Technology outside of Las Vegas. The company put the journalists up in a swanky hotel and gave us food.)"

"The electric GLCor more formally, the GLC With EQ Technologyis another do-over EV for Mercedes. As you can tell, the company still hasn't learned how to name a product, but at least the EQ-names and bubbly styling are gone. The company is relaunching its EV efforts with two new tip-of-the-spear models. The CLA EV will introduce its new 800-volt architecture and software-defined platform for smaller vehicles, while the GLC is the first SUV on Mercedes' new larger EV architecture, which is closely related."

A Mercedes-Benz GLC EV prototype climbed and slid down a towering Mojave dune while canted at roughly 30 degrees, sustaining a four-wheel high-incline drift using electric torque. The compact luxury crossover maintained sideways motion with the nose pointed skyward, passing sun-sparkled sand across a panoramic sunroof. The vehicle produced 596 lb-ft of torque and used motor control rather than exotic hardware to achieve extreme off-road behavior. Mercedes is relaunching EV efforts with two new flagship models: the CLA EV introducing an 800-volt architecture and a software-defined platform for smaller cars, and the GLC as the first SUV on the larger EV architecture.

Read at insideevs.com