It may well be able to wade through deep water, have crawl-assist mode for sketchy terrain, and even perform 360-degree swivel-on-the-spot tank turns, but sales of the seemingly much-anticipated electric Mercedes G-Class SUV have been poor. Actually, that’s an understatement. They’ve been woeful. And it’s not the only e-flop from a legacy automaker: Just last week Ferrari announced that it is delaying its second EV model (the first will arrive in October) until at least 2028 because of weak demand. Porsche has cut back its plans for EVs amid soft sales of its electric Macan SUV and Taycan models. Indeed, depreciation on the Taycan is so eye-watering that some Porsche dealers have supposedly refused to take their own brand’s performance EV from owners looking to offload or upgrade. And after the February closure of its Belgian factory, Audi’s Q8 E-tron has been discontinued. The shuttering of the Brussels plant, says Audi, was due to a “global decline in customer orders in the electric luxury class segment.” Yet, at the same time, global sales of EVs are going gangbusters—so what gives? Audi’s Q8 E-tron has been discontinued following a “global decline in customer orders in the electric luxury class segment.” Photograph: AUDI AG “The transition to EVs is not just a case of putting a battery in a vehicle,” says Peter Wells, a business professor and director of the Center for Automotive Industry Research at Cardiff University in Wales, UK. “Large premium EVs require very large batteries to match anything like the performance of typical ICE versions, and this increases their price.” Indeed, the all-electric G-Wagen will set you back a staggering $162,000. The full EV Range Rover coming later this year is expected to cost even more, supposedly retailing for upwards of $180,000. “For years, brands like Porsche, Audi, and others have been able to expand output and model ranges while continuing to command premium prices in the market. Those days are now over,” says Wells. Mercedes sold just 1,450 G-Class G580 off-roaders in Europe through to April of this year, German newspaper Handelsblatt recently revealed, noting that this was considerably below the cheaper combustion variants, which totaled 9,700 sales. The G-Class—formerly the G-Wagen, or Geländewagen, German for “cross-country vehicle” and originally developed for the German army—is a 45-year-old design, massively updated in 2022, but still ruggedly boxy when most EVs are aero and svelte. However, thanks to potential tariffs of up to 50 percent on imported cars from Europe, Mercedes likely won’t be able to rely on the US to make up for its poor European sales for the electrified G-Wagen. Handelsblatt cited an unnamed company insider saying the G580 has been a “complete flop” since its launch in April last year. This is not the official line. “Mercedes-Benz is prepared for all market scenarios,” says an email from company PR officer Markus Nast. “Into the 2030s, we can flexibly offer vehicles with both a fully electric drivetrain or an electrified high-tech combustion engine. Our customers decide what suits them best.”