Mercedes-Benz has posted the first teaser pic of an all-electric minivan set to go on sale under the name “VLE”. It’s based on the company’s all-new Van.EA platform and is already being produced in Spain in test mode, but the first market-ready examples won’t roll off the assembly line until early 2026.
Back in June, the automaker posted some photos of the minivan wrapped in camo. It looked very little like the car seen in the teaser here. The final version of the exterior makes it much closer to the Vision V Concept previewed at the Shanghai Auto Show this spring. The similarities include a short but muscular hood and a sporty profile with a slanted c-pillar, just to name a few. In turn, the faux grille and the headlights look almost identical to those of the recently introduced GLC SUV.
The Mercedes-Benz VLE will become the company’s first fully electric MPV to go into production in Spain. The manufacturing site is currently undergoing a retrofit to mass-produce the next generation of the V-Class and the Vito vans. As for the VLE, it will ship with anywhere between four and eight seats to choose from, standard all-wheel drive and rear-wheel steering. Later on, it will be joined in production by a gas-powered counterpart based on a different platform called the Van.CA.
Aside from this lineup, Mercedes has plans for a luxury MPV range so far known as the VLS. The company calls these “grand limos” despite their non-limo shape and claims that they will represent “the S-Class of the van segment”. It’s still too early to speculate when this luxurious lineup may reach the market, though.
