The VLE is Mercedes-Benz calling a van a Grand Limousine, and the new 400 4MATIC is the version that finally drives like the badge suggests. A second motor on the rear axle brings all-wheel drive to the all-electric people mover, and German order books are open now.
Up to eight seats ride behind electric sliding doors, under a panoramic roof, in a rear compartment Mercedes has arranged for working as much as for riding. This is the flagship of the range, and everything about it is scaled for the passengers in the back.
A rear compartment built like a lounge
The doors set the tone before anyone sits down. Both sliding doors are electric, and their windows retract fully into the door itself, so the opening becomes a genuine doorway rather than a gap to squeeze through sideways. Step in, sit down, and the cabin takes over from there.
Sliding doors are thin, and a window that disappears completely into one is packaging work rather than styling. It leaves the aperture clear from sill to roof, which is the difference between stepping into a cabin and climbing into one.
Above the seats sits the Sky View panoramic roof, and the rear compartment is arranged as a place to work or to switch off, a desk and a lounge sharing the same square metres. Upholstery runs to Quito fabric, ARTICO or Nappa leather, in black, ivory beige or beech brown, and the whole cabin is trimmed like the front of a flagship saloon rather than the back of a van.
Eight seats is the ceiling. The cabin never pretends to be smaller than it is.
The second motor changes the brief
The 400 4MATIC adds a motor to the rear axle and puts 310 kW under the driver’s right foot. That is enough for 0 to 100 km/h in 6.5 seconds, in a vehicle that can carry eight people and everything they brought with them.
The battery is a 115 kWh usable pack, and Mercedes rates the range at up to 654 km on the WLTP cycle, with consumption at 21.7 to 20.1 kWh per 100 km. Both figures are provisional, and they belong to a big, tall, heavy electric van, which makes the range number the more remarkable of the two claims.
Range is the headline claim.
It works for its living, too. The VLE tows up to 2.5 tonnes on a 100 kg towbar load, with ESP trailer stabilisation watching the rig and Trailer Manoeuvring Assist taking the shame out of reversing it into a tight spot. AIRMATIC and the comfort suspension sit on the options list, AC charging at up to 11 kW is an option as well, and the bill climbs with every box ticked.
Packages, German prices and the wait for America
Two packages do most of the dressing. The new ADVANCED package brings black high-gloss turned 19-inch alloy wheels and shaded rear windows, while Premium Plus loads in the MBUX Superscreen, a head-up display, DIGITAL LIGHT with a projection function, Massage Plus seats and active seat ventilation for the long legs of a journey.
German list prices include 19% VAT and are dated September 8, 2026. The range opens at €70,735.39 for the five-seat VLE 300, about $78,400, with its six-seater at €71,187.59, and the 400 4MATIC starts at €85,059.68 as a five-seater and €85,516.64 as a six-seater, roughly $94,300 to $94,800 at the current ECB reference rate.
The sixth seat costs €456.96. The step up to the dual-motor car costs a little over €14,300.
One gap sits in the announcement, and it is a large one. Mercedes gives no American on-sale date for the VLE, so the car American buyers can read about tonight is a car they cannot yet order.
Buy it if you are in Germany and your life runs on school runs, airport runs and long autobahn legs with a full cabin, because nothing else electric carries eight people this quietly at this range. Skip it, for now, if your driveway is in the United States and your timeline is this year.
