Try our newest merchandise
Mercedes-Benz Vans has commenced “pre-series manufacturing” of the all-new VLE at its plant in Vitoria, Spain, forward of the brand new electrical luxurious individuals mover’s premiere within the first half of 2026.
The 2026 Mercedes-Benz VLE is the alternative for the present EQV – the all-electric model of the V-Class premium individuals mover – and can debut a “newly developed, modular and scalable van structure” wrapped in a design impressed by the Imaginative and prescient V idea from this 12 months’s Shanghai motor present.
Additional particulars across the German automaker’s so-called Van Electrical Structure (VAN.EA) are nonetheless to be introduced, although Mercedes-Benz has beforehand said that VAN.EA autos could have a 800V electrical system and be out there with front- or all-wheel drive layouts providing as much as 500km of vary.
Compared, the prevailing EQV, which relies on the combustion-engined V-Class, presents solely a 150kW single-motor front-drive powertrain fed by a 90kWh battery, making it good for as much as 418km on the older NEDC take a look at cycle. It additionally has a restricted DC fast-charging capability of simply 110kW.
CarExpert can prevent hundreds on a brand new automotive. Click on right here to get an important deal.
Mercedes-Benz says the Vitoria plant has been “comprehensively modernised” to accommodate manufacturing of VAN.EA autos.
The Spanish facility is claimed to be sustainable, sustaining a web carbon-neutral ranking for Mercedes-Benz Vans manufacturing processes.
Workers can even be upskilled within the integration of latest applied sciences, supplies and IT requirements.
“In Vitoria a PV system that generates inexperienced electrical energy itself was put in for sustainability functions. The plant additionally makes use of geothermal power to warmth the buildings and makes use of the waste warmth generated throughout car portray,” stated the corporate.
Mercedes-Benz says “over 90 per cent” of the required development to replace the Vitoria plant has already been accomplished, and that “greater than 160 totally different coaching presents” made out there to about 5000 workers on the location.
As previewed by the Mercedes-Benz Imaginative and prescient V present automotive, the VLE will provide “limousine-like driving behaviour with MPV-like versatility”.
The manufacturing mannequin will provide as much as eight seats, and have the German luxurious marque’s newest in-car infotainment and driver help applied sciences.
In reality, it is going to be the primary series-production van within the Benz vary to supply the brand new Mercedes-Benz Working System (MB.OS), which has already been seen within the next-generation CLA and GLC with EQ Expertise.
Mercedes-Benz has additionally confirmed that after initially being provided as an EV, the VLE will spawn a model with “a state-of-the-art combustion engine”, produced in the identical manufacturing unit.
It’s understood the combustion-powered model of the VLE, and different ICE vans from Mercedes-Benz, might be primarily based on the automaker’s new Van Combustion Structure (VAN.CA).
Keep tuned to CarExpert for all the newest information on the brand new VLE throughout the early levels of 2026.
MORE: Mercedes-Benz’s luxurious EV idea previews next-generation V-Class
MORE: Discover the Mercedes-Benz EQV showroom
