Mercedes-Benz GLB vs MG S5 EV

The Mercedes-Benz GLB costs £14,605 more than the MG S5 EV. For that premium it adds 81 miles more WLTP range, 181 kW faster peak rapid charging and 87 litres more boot space. The MG S5 EV is not just cheaper - it also offers a 1.1s quicker 0-62mph time. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Mercedes-Benz GLB comes out ahead overall.

The MG S5 EV is £14,605 cheaper to buy. Running costs are almost identical - about £168 a year either way, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the MG S5 EV comes out roughly £14,645 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 268 miles for the Mercedes-Benz GLB and 208 miles for the MG S5 EV - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The Mercedes-Benz GLB goes roughly 61 miles further between charging stops. A rapid charge to 80% takes around 20 minutes in the Mercedes-Benz GLB and 28 in the MG S5 EV, so the Mercedes-Benz GLB loses less time at each stop. That makes the Mercedes-Benz GLB the stronger long-distance car.

The two are within 12 mm on width, so neither is meaningfully easier to thread into a tight space. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 551 mm of total clearance for the MG S5 EV and about 539 mm of total clearance for the Mercedes-Benz GLB. The MG S5 EV also turns in a 0.7 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 GLB and 84% for the MG S5 EV. 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.