BMW i4 vs Mercedes-Benz GLB

The BMW i4 costs £7,305 more than the Mercedes-Benz GLB. For that premium it adds 50 kW more power and a 1.7s quicker 0-62mph time. The Mercedes-Benz GLB is not just cheaper - it also offers 120 kW faster peak rapid charging, 70 litres more boot space and 2 more seats (7 versus 5). On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Mercedes-Benz GLB comes out ahead overall.

The Mercedes-Benz GLB is £7,305 cheaper to buy. Running costs are almost identical - about £176 a year either way, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the Mercedes-Benz GLB comes out roughly £7,305 cheaper overall. These figures cover list price and home charging only - insurance, servicing, tyres and depreciation will move the real total.

EVcarsguide estimates a real-world motorway range of about 261 miles for the BMW i4 and 268 miles for the Mercedes-Benz GLB - effectively matched, and both well below their WLTP figures because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. A rapid charge to 80% takes around 31 minutes in the BMW i4 and 20 in the Mercedes-Benz GLB, so the Mercedes-Benz GLB loses less time at each stop.

The two are within 9 mm on width, so neither is meaningfully easier to thread into a tight space. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 548 mm of total clearance for the BMW i4 and about 539 mm of total clearance for the Mercedes-Benz GLB. The Mercedes-Benz GLB also turns in a 1.3 m tighter circle, which helps with U-turns and multi-storey ramps.

Over a 8-year ownership window EVcarsguide's degradation model projects roughly 84% battery health for the BMW i4 and 84% for the Mercedes-Benz GLB. That is close enough that capacity loss should not decide between them. Both use NMC-type cells, so for daily use keep the charge limit near 80% to slow degradation.