When you’re British, you are obliged to indulge in long conversations about the weather. The only snag, since around August of last year, is that there’s only one topic of climate related conversation. Rain.

I don’t know where you live, but in my neck of the woods in North East England, there seems to have been a mixture of light drizzle and heavy rain every day since late summer. So much so that I’ve started to develop webbed feet. The problem of course is that in this country we don’t have a proper climate, we just have weather.

Alf Wainwright, the Lake District author, would just shrug his shoulders and say that there was no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing. I’d shrug my shoulders and say ‘stuff the unsuitable clothing, I’ve got a Mercedes GLE to roam around in.’

There can be few better ways to show two fingers to the bad weather than have a chunky SUV and, when you throw the likes of a BMW X5, Range Rover Sport and Porsche Cayenne into the mix alongside the Mercedes GLE, you have a choice of some very desirable machinery.

And the latest GLE gives you another option as a 400e plug-in hybrid which, if you have a round journey commute in the region of 60 miles, could see you float along in silence without using a drop of petrol.

Under the bonnet, there’s a 2.0-litre petrol engine. Combine that with the battery-powered motor and you end up with a power output of 383bhp which is healthy, although you need plenty of oomph because the GLE plus its hefty battery, tip the scales at over 2.6 tonnes. Everything goes to the all-wheel drive system via a 9-speed auto ‘box and gives you a 0-60mph time of 6.1 seconds and a top speed of 130mph which, let’s face it, is quick and fast enough.

If you need to travel further but want to keep using battery power, the advantage of the GLE 400e is that you can use a rapid charger (up to 60 kW) to top up the battery. A charge from 10-80 per cent only takes 20 minutes.

If comfort is a priority, you’ll love the GLE because it comes with adaptive dampers as standard so the ride is cushy.

The only time that everything gets a bit flustered is when you ask the 4-cylinder petrol engine to bring all of the horses to life. It’s a bit rowdy. However, under most circumstances, at motorway speeds, for example, everything is nicely hushed. The insulation from wind and tyre noise is terrific.  

There’s no getting away from the fact that this is a large car. On the plus side, however, it has acres of room in the front and back and the boot is enormous. Put it this way, a family of 4-5, could head off on holiday with all of their baggage and still have room for the kitchen sink. The 490 litres of boot space should easily cope with everyone’s luggage.

£82,255 is the start price for the 400e in AMG Line trim (you can also get Premium and Premium Plus AMG Line trim). Still, most owners will go for the entry-level model because it comes with a really good list of standard kit which includes heated front seats, 360-degree camera, terrific LED headlights, AMG body-styling kit, running boards, auto climate control, sat nav, DAB radio, sunroof and a powered tailgate. It’s also loaded with a stack of safety kit and driver assistance gadgets.

A special word of praise for the interior designers. The dashboard, split info screens and even the air vents look good. And I can’t forget the super-comfy seats.

The driving experience is one of relaxed elegance. Yes, you can hustle along country lanes or cruise along the motorways. Yes, you can throw the GLE 400e around, but you can’t get away from the fact that this is a heavy car with sizeable dimensions. If you want to fling your car along twisting lanes or Swiss mountain passes, then something like the Porsche Cayenne would be a good idea. However, for most of the real world who want to drive steadily and arrive unflustered after a 7-hour journey, the Mercedes GLE 400e will be a terrific choice. If you are lucky enough to be able to use it as a day-to-day runabout, it should also be extremely economical. The hybrid setup also makes for the GLE 400e to be a sensible choice for company drivers.

With a starting price over £80k, the Mercedes GLE in 400e plug-in hybrid guise, ain’t cheap. But neither is the competition. Some will point to something like the BMW X5 which gets a 6-pot engine and say that it sounds better (which under heavy acceleration is true). Still, for 99 per cent of the time in the Mercedes, you ride along in either total silence, courtesy of the battery-powered electric motor, or with a distant rumble from the 2.0-litre petrol engine which isn’t harsh by any stretch of the imagination. And it looks good too. 

The best idea is to do a back-to-back road test if you’re in the market for one of these cars, but if you want a distinctive, economical, solid and well-equipped big SUV, the Mercedes GLE 400e is a great place to start….and finish.  

words: Graham Courtney
pictures: Mercedes