2024 Mercedes-Benz GLE 450e: Electrified otherworldliness

2024 Mercedes-Benz GLE 450e 4Matic: MercDreamy?

Price: $90,990 as tested. An options list just north of $20,000 adds AMG Line exterior, Driver Assistance Package Plus, 21-inch wheels, power second row, heated steering wheel and washer, and walnut trim. More noted below, believe it or not.

Conventional wisdom: Motor Trend likes that it “defaults to electric mode,” with a “realistic 50+ mile EV range,” but not the “minimal regenerative braking” or that the “touch pad too close to cupholder.”

Marketer’s pitch: “Inspiration, born to lead. Innovation, built to last.”

Reality: A beautiful space, but not so beautiful moving through space.

What’s new: The GLE SUV — there’s also a coupe with the same three letters, strangely — gets a redo inside and out for 2024, plus the new plug-in hybrid power train tested is added.

Competition: BMW X5, Lexus RX Hybrid, Porsche Cayenne, Lincoln Nautilus

Driver’s Seat: On the bright side of otherworldly, step inside one of the ooohiest and aaahiest interiors you’ll experience. It’s a Mercedes, so one expects comfort, and one would not be disappointed. The macchiato leather seat ($1,620) is leathery and grabby, and smooshy like a Squishmallow and has massage, but the headrest pushes and pushes and just doesn’t let up. I kept feeling like I would be accelerating my inevitable bent-over old-manhood.

Also, the wings on this seat are sharp. Once while trying to get in, I stopped halfway because I’d forgotten something, and I learned the seat wing is rather, um, pointed.

Seat controllers are on the door, except for lumbar, which is in the infotainment screen. I’m not a fan; the Lovely Mrs. Passenger Seat is. At least they’re all easy to reach and you don’t have to leave the seat while trying to make it just right, which is a problem I’d found when Hyundai tried this.

Furthermore, the luxurious wood/leather multifunction steering wheel ($600) certainly looks like all that, but the wood gets old quickly. If I’d taken this vehicle on a long trip, I swear I might get callouses. There is leather on the grip side, but it seems a lot of suffering to prove you’ve made it.

Still, that big wide-screen instrument cluster/infotainment center sure is pretty.

Up to speed: The GLE 450e did a fine job of motivating itself. With a 2.0-liter four-cylinder coupled with a 134-horsepower hybrid system — for a total of 381 horses — the SUV will get to 60 mph in 5.5 seconds, according to Motor Trend.

Fuel economy: Furthermore, that hybrid system really stretches the fuel. With a range of over 50 miles, the engine barely needs to turn on in most everyday use, except to help with acceleration and hill-climbing.

The GLE averaged 41 mpg over 630 miles, about 150 of which were mine, a fairly astounding feat for a midsize SUV.

Shifty: The 9-speed transmission operates seamlessly like a good transmission should.

Possible downside: The shifter is the usual Mercedes stalk, which looks and feels like a wiper stalk. And, yes, it rained on the last day I had the SUV, and, yes, I did put it in Reverse while trying to turn the wipers on. Fortunately I was stopped at the time.

On the road: On the downside of otherworldly, there’s the handling. The steering could best be described as distant, like angels are in charge.

The feeling is super nice while turning around in the driveway, where it’s as light and airy as a puff pastry. But the feel doesn’t get much better out on the road, and so it can be tough to predict where the SUV might be going. There is little fun to be had piloting the GLE.

The vehicle handles country roads all right and is super smooth on the highway, but on roads where the angle shifts a lot, it bumps and bounces quite noticeably. It’s very 2013 Kia Sorento in that department.

Friends and stuff: The second row is plenty big and comfy, and offers room to stretch out in all directions.

The plug-in hybrid version comes only as a five-seater; a seven-seater gasoline version is also available, but I doubt the third row is at all big and comfy, or offers plenty of room.

Cargo space is 31.5 cubic feet in back, 74.9 with the rear seat folded.

Play some tunes: The Burmester Surround Sound System (part of the holy moly, it’s $5,600 Pinnacle Trim) provided excellent playback, about an A-, maybe an A. It does some songs really well, but others not so much.

Operation of this system could be a little cumbersome, with arrow buttons that are swipe sliders and a console knob for other moves. The 12.3-inch touchscreen works well, although kind of small for the price point.

Keeping warm and cool: This operates nicely, with a row of toggles for almost everything.

Where it’s built: Vance, Ala.

How it’s built: Consumer Reports predicts the GLE SUV’s reliability will be a 2 out of 5.

Also, I don’t usually note recalls, because it appears most models have one or two. This one has five and for serious things like possible fuel leaks and stuck accelerators.

In the end: If a fancy ride is your thing and handling is not, go for it. But I’d explore the BMW or Lexus models first.