Mercedes E-Class Hybrid Review

Pricing 

Mercedes only offers the E-Class Hybrids in three trim levels – SE, AMG Line and AMG Line Premium. AMG Line always tends to be the most popular trim level for any Mercedes as it looks the part with its sportier exterior styling inside and out. Premium adds adaptive LED headlights, memory seats, a 360-degree camera, wireless phone charging, wi-fi hotspot and connected services, and at £2,395 on top of the AMG Line, it’s reasonably good value. But we’d stick with the entry-level SE as it’s by no means bargain basement. You get LED headlights, 18-inch wheels (in a different style to the AMG Line), electrically folding mirrors, an electric tailgate (on the Estate), two 12.3-inch screens for the dials and infotainment system and leather trim. All cars, regardless of trim, also get two eight-metre charging cables – most manufacturers don’t throw in the cables for free and nor do they offer ones that are as usefully long.  

Running costs 

Just like any other plug-in hybrid, the E300e and E300de have impressive MPG figures – anywhere between 134.5 and 166mpg is quoted by Mercedes. You’ll have to make sure you plug-in at the end of each journey and travel only on electric power to get anywhere close to these numbers. In our experience, around 50mpg for the diesel and around 35 for the petrol is average in normal driving when the batteries are fully empty.

CO2 figures are low too, just as you’d expect. The diesel is the cleanest at 41g/km, the diesel Estate is next at 44g/km and the petrol coughs out 46g/km. They all fit into the 12% Benefit in Kind (BIK) rating, which can potentially save company drivers thousands a year, but you have to make sure the sums add up. The base price of an E-Class Hybrid in SE trim is over £9,000 more than the equivalent non-PHEV E-Class SE.