The 2025 Mercedes-Benz GLE 450e plug-in hybrid carries over into its second model year unchanged.
Introduced for the 2024 model year, this plug-in hybrid version of the GLE-Class midsize SUV is available in a single grade for 2025, with a $72,500 base price (including a $1,150 destination charge) that puts it roughly in the middle of the overall GLE lineup. The plug-in hybrid model remains unique to the standard GLE SUV; it isn’t available in the Coupe body style.
2025 Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class (GLE 450)
For this plug-in hybrid, Mercedes teamed a 2.0-liter turbo-4 and 9-speed automatic transmission with a single electric motor, for a total system output of 381 hp and 479 lb-ft of torque, which is sent to all four wheels. A 23.3-kwh battery pack provides 50 miles of EPA electric range.
In a test drive of the GLE 450e on roads around the Mercedes-Benz factory in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, we found that this SUV does hybrid the right way. Not only does it provide ample electric range on paper, but a reasonably powerful electric motor (it’s rated at 134 hp and 325 lb-ft of torque) makes it easier to stay in all-electric mode.
2025 Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class (GLE 450)
Mercedes is expected to add a second GLE plug-in hybrid to its U.S. lineup in 2026, but this one will be more focused on performance. The AMG GLE 53 Hybrid will combine a turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-6 with a torquier electric motor for an estimated 536 hp and 553 lb-ft of torque, getting it from 0-60 mph in 4.6 seconds. A similar powertrain is used in the 2025 Mercedes-AMG E 53 Hybrid sedan.
Mercedes remains committed to plug-in hybrid powertrains for its AMG performance models, and continues to offer a plug-in hybrid version of the smaller GLC SUV alongside the GLE for 2025. But it’s reportedly nixed extended-range EVs using smaller combustion engines as generators supplying power to the battery pack, considering them a “transitional technology.”
