Mercedes nudges Maybach down the ELECTRIC road with the new Maybach S 580 e PHEV

Mercedes starts the route to fully electric cars at Maybach with the arrival of the new Mercedes-Maybach S 580 e PHEV.

Luxury car makers spend an inordinate amount on making their cars as quiet as they can, insulating occupants from the noise of the ICE lump up front. So electric cars are something of a no-brainer for cars at the top of the automotive tree.

Rolls-Royce is already busy working on bringing the electric Spectre to market, and Bentley plans to have its first EV ready in a couple of years.

But despite the positive aspects of Luxury EVs, Mercedes has decided its luxury marque – Maybach – will not dive headlong in to full electrification with a Maybach take on the Mercedes EQS, but instead go with a plug-in hybrid version of the Mercedes S Class. Say hello to the new Mercedes-Maybach S580e PHEV.

Based, unsurprisingly, on the Mercedes S580e, the Maybach S580e gets the same 362bhp 3.0-litre straight-six mated to a 148bhp electric motor for a total output of 510bhp, good for 0-62mph in 5.1 seconds.

The electric motor is said to be good for a 62-mile range (knock a third off in the real world) when powered by just the 28.6 kWh battery, which can be charged in half an hour with a 60kW charge option.

Titivations to mark out the PHEV Maybach from the ICE Maybach are very minor, including a concealed flap for charging, blue highlights in the headlights and battery charge state in the instrument panel.

Maybach’s Daniel Lescow said:

With our first plug-in hybrid model, we are combining the luxury experience typical of Maybach with emission-free local driving when in electric driving mode. The Mercedes?Maybach S 580 e represents a pivotal step in the transformation of our heritage brand into an electric future. We will present our first fully electric model as early as 2023.

The only question Lescow’s statement leaves unanswered is whether the first Maybach EV will be based on the Mercedes EQS or EQS SUV.