2028 Mercedes-Benz VLE first drive: Your 8K living room on wheels has arrived

The conception of a surviving room connected wheels is thing of a modern cliché successful nan automotive world, a imagination for a car truthful comfortable, well-appointed and yet luxurious that you'd beryllium conscionable arsenic happy to walk hours location arsenic you would lounging astatine home.

The problem is that astir of those concepts, for illustration nan Cadillac InnerSpace aliases Mini Urbanaut, person depended connected nan readiness of self-driving technology, thing that still only exists successful nan constricted circles of Waymo, Zoox and their ilk. We're still years distant from you aliases I being capable to bargain a car that tin thrust itself unsupervised, but that isn't stopping Mercedes from releasing what could beryllium nan astir compelling of nan rolling surviving spaces.

It's called nan VLE, and while it requires a quality down nan wheel, passengers successful nan 2nd statement will beryllium treated to reclining, massaging seats, a 22-speaker Dolby Atmos sound strategy and a 31.3-inch ultrawide 8K display. It's an astonishing package, but is it capable to motion disconnected those minivan preconceptions?

Visually, nan VLE fits nan silhouette of countless family-friendly minivans that person been handling kid-hauling duties successful nan United States since nan Dodge Caravan planted nan seed measurement backmost successful nan early '80s. Ask Mercedes, though, and they'll show you this is simply a different beast.

The VLE is what nan institution calls a Grand Limousine, and while that sounds pretentious, it's really perfectly appropriate. At 216 inches, nan VLE is 10 inches longer than a GLS SUV. It besides has an soul ceiling tallness of 49 inches, making it easy for me, astatine six feet tall, to move around.

And it is surely astatine slightest arsenic luxurious arsenic your mean limousine, pinch seating to match. The VLE tin beryllium configured pinch room for up to 8 crossed 3 rows, but it's champion pinch fewer, specifically configured pinch nan two-seat captain's chair statement you spot here.

Two powertrains will beryllium available. The VLE 300 offers front-wheel thrust and 272 horsepower, while nan VLE 400 4MATIC steps up to a dual-motor, all-wheel thrust configuration pinch 416 hp. Both trust connected nan same, sizable, 115-kilowatt-hour usable artillery battalion that spans nan level of nan van. Mercedes says it will supply capable scope to screen 435 miles connected nan European WLTP trial cycle. On our much challenging EPA test, expect a standing location astir 350 miles.It's an 800-volt strategy that charges astatine a maximum complaint of 300 kilowatts. That intends adding astir 200 miles successful 15 minutes.

As overmuch arsenic I emotion to drive, nan champion seats successful nan VLE are successful nan 2nd row. From there, you tin recline and regard up done nan solid ceiling, aliases deploy nan 31.3-inch ultra-wide surface and whittle distant astatine your YouTube queue.

You tin besides watercourse Disney+ straight connected nan display, but sadly those are nan only 2 video streaming partners of note. Neither Chromecast nor AirPlay streaming are supported. There is an HDMI larboard if you want to BYO content, but moving wires crossed nan compartment doesn't consciousness peculiarly luxurious to me.

You tin besides prime from a fewer basal games to play connected nan system, and if you person 2 kids who tin ne'er work together connected anything, you tin divided nan TV into dual, 15-inch 4K displays. The 32:9 ratio intends that aft splitting, you're efficaciously getting a brace of 16:9 displays, which is honestly amended for viewing astir contented anyway. A brace of Bluetooth headsets intends a brace of passengers tin besides get their ain dedicated audio.

Sitting up front? There's plentifulness of pixels there, too. Specifically, 3 dashboard-spanning units that dress up Benz's MBUX Superscreen setup. There's a 10.25-inch gauge cluster connected nan left, a 14-inch main infotainment surface successful nan mediate and a 14-inch rider show connected nan correct that tin besides watercourse videos and different media.

For nan broader aural portion of nan media experience, you person 22 speakers from a Burmester 3D sound system. It handles Dolby Atmos, truthful you tin beryllium afloat immersed successful some euphony and much theatrical content. Interestingly, nan strategy tin besides dynamically reconfigure itself based connected who is sitting successful nan van and where.

Driving solo? The speakers automatically prioritize you. Have a afloat van? It'll capable it each pinch sound. And it's very tin of doing that. I cruised done a playlist of Atmos-optimized music, everything from Tay Tay to Axl Rose, and everything sounded fantastic.

Those 2 chairs successful nan mediate are heated and ventilated and tin beryllium you upright aliases descent you to a reasonable grade of recline. No, they don't spell afloat flat, but you astir apt wouldn't for illustration what would hap to you successful an mishap if they did. They're honestly a spot constrictive and awkward to get successful and retired of, but I could spot myself spending hours backmost present without complaint.

I could enactment productive, too, acknowledgment to integrated USB-C powerfulness successful each 3 rows, and a fold-out laptop tray that looks flimsy but was sturdy capable to grip my Lenovo X1 Carbon. A temperature-controlled compartment successful nan armrest tin support basking drinks basking and acold drinks cool, and there's a abstracted chiller towards nan backmost for more.

RGB LEDs tally passim nan full cabin, truthful you tin springiness your thrust immoderate hue you like, and there's moreover an integrated nebulizer, making for a bespoke scent, too.

Even nan 3rd statement is comfortable. The mediate seats plaything themselves guardant and retired of nan way, truthful introduction is easy, and I had ample headroom backmost there.And past there's nan driver's seat, which is besides comfortable and accommodating should you person to thrust this instrumentality yourself.

With up to 416 horsepower delivered done each 4 wheels, nan VLE tin beryllium decently speedy erstwhile punched up to athletics mode. It besides rides connected adaptive aerial suspension, which tin patient up and make nan VLE consciousness that overmuch much responsive successful nan corners.

But successful my clip down nan wheel, it ne'er felt comfortable erstwhile driven aggressively. I enjoyed piloting nan VLE overmuch much erstwhile I dialed it down to Comfort, took a heavy activity and conscionable cruised on my route.

In this mode, nan aerial suspension is supple, and nan throttle relaxed capable that you tin easiness your measurement guardant without disturbing anyone successful nan rear seats. The steering has a slow ratio arsenic well, but don't fto that make you deliberation this isn't a nimble van. With 7 degrees of steering from nan rear wheels, nan VLE tin move its awesome bulk successful a acold tighter circle than you mightiness expect.

Drivers get to return advantage of a suite of progressive information systems arsenic well, including progressive lane-keep assistance connected nan road and a broad automatic parking strategy that swings this large beast into mini parking spots. It'll moreover automatically backmost itself retired of a tight business should you make a incorrect move down a constrictive alley.

About nan only point nan VLE is missing is afloat autonomy. It'd beryllium awfully bully to get a instrumentality for illustration this and fto it return you to activity while you sewage successful a fewer rounds of Fortnite connected that 8K display. Alas, we're not location yet, but I person a emotion astir group who acquisition nan VLE will do truthful from nan 2nd row. This would beryllium an epic airdrome and arena shuttle, but it's going to beryllium a small while earlier it enters service.

The VLE isn't owed to deed nan American marketplace until precocious 2027, and while nan value isn't set, Andreas Zygan, Head of Development astatine Mercedes-Benz Vans, told maine this: "It will not beryllium a inexpensive one, for sure."