Mercedes-Benz G-Class Electric vs VW ID.Buzz

The Mercedes-Benz G-Class Electric costs £94,865 more than the VW ID.Buzz. For that premium it adds a 2.9s quicker 0-62mph time. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the VW ID.Buzz comes out ahead overall.

The VW ID.Buzz is £94,865 cheaper to buy. The VW ID.Buzz is cheaper to charge, roughly £192 a year versus £280 for the Mercedes-Benz G-Class Electric, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the VW ID.Buzz comes out roughly £95,305 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 235 miles for the Mercedes-Benz G-Class Electric and 235 miles for the VW ID.Buzz - effectively matched, and both well below their WLTP figures because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV.

The Mercedes-Benz G-Class Electric is the easier car for tight UK car parks: it is 54 mm narrower than the VW ID.Buzz. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 469 mm of total clearance for the Mercedes-Benz G-Class Electric and about 415 mm of total clearance for the VW ID.Buzz. The VW ID.Buzz also turns in a 2.5 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 Mercedes-Benz G-Class Electric and 84% for the VW ID.Buzz. 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.