2027 Mercedes-Benz GLB EV And Hybrid Put An Emphasis On Tech While Keeping The Boxy Looks We Love

The Mercedes-Benz GLB is such an important car for the brand. It's one of the company's three entry-level models, sitting alongside the CLA and GLA. However, unlike those two vehicles, its got a couple of things going for it that really set it apart: its boxy styling and the fact it somehow seats seven people. The GLB is a gateway into the brand for a lot of customers, and Mercedes knows this. It knows it needs to make a good first impression if it wants someone to come back and spring for a bigger, more expensive model next time.

That's why, when it came time to redesign the GLB for its second generation, Mercedes didn't want to mess with too much of a proven formula. Sure, it rides on same new MMA platform as the third-gen CLA and shares that sedan's new powertrains under the hood, including two fully electric options and a new hybrid four-cylinder, but visually the car doesn't take too many risks inside or out. That's a good thing, because the GLB has always been a cute little thing, if you ask me. Boxy cars are so hot right now, and cars that can combine boxy and cute are all the better for it. The first GLB did it, and now the second one is looking to carry on the family tradition. It also has to do the job of making up for a bit of the rush job that was the EQB, the electric version of the first-gen GLB. After all, that car was never a dedicated EV, so it was a compromised package from the get-go.

Full Disclosure: Mercedes-Benz flew me to Austria, put me up in multiple lovely hotels and fed me a lot of very good food so that I could check out the new GLB (among other things I can't tell you about yet).

Like most automakers, Mercedes is all about powertrain diversification these days, and it's no different with the GLB. At launch, the 2027 GLB is going to have two electric powertrains: the GLB250+ and GLB350 4Matic. The former has a single electric motor on the rear axle that puts out 268 horsepower and 247 pound-feet of torque. Those healthy-ish numbers are enough to move the compact SUV from 0 to 60 mph in a Mercedes-estimated 7.3 seconds, and it'll get between 337 and 392 miles of range on the European WLTP cycle. You can expect EPA numbers to be about 20% worse. If power is what you crave, hop on up to the GLB350 4Matic, which has two motors sending 349 hp and 380 lb-ft of torque to all four wheels. The AWD model drops the 0-60 time to 5.4 seconds, but the electrically limited top speed remains the same at 130 mph, and the GLB350's range is between 324 and 381 miles on the WLTP cycle. The rear motor on both electric GLBs has a two-speed transmission for better high-speed efficiency and low-speed acceleration.

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Right now, Mercedes-Benz offers three flavors of electric EQB in the U.S.: the EQB250+, EQB300 4Matic and EQB350 4Matic. They put out 188 hp, 225 hp and 288 hp, respectively, so it seems that power is going to be up considerably in the new electric GLB from the car it replaces. The longest-range EQB is the front-drive EQB250, which only has 251 miles of EPA range, so the new GLB EV should also travel a lot further.

No matter which electric powertrain you choose, the GLB comes with the same 800-volt architecture and 85-kWh battery pack that can DC fast-charge at 320 kW. Mercedes says the car can add up to 162 WLTP-rated miles of range in about 10 minutes of charging. Of course, the electric GLB will come with multiple levels of regenerative braking on both trim levels, as well as a bevy of optional driver-assist systems that keep you in your lane and out of trouble.

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I don't want my gas-pilled readers to worry, though. Mercedes knows not everyone is ready to make the switch to electric, which is why it's also going to introduce a hybrid GLB a bit after the car launches. It's going to be powered by the automaker's new M252 turbocharged 1.5-liter inline-four that is mated to an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission and electric motor. It's the same setup found in the new CLA220 hybrid, but Mercedes hasn't released official power numbers yet, so I won't speculate if they're the same. 

If you know anything about Mercedes' latest crop of compact cars, then I'm sure you won't be surprised to learn that the redone GLB's interior looks exactly the same as the new CLA's — at least when you're sitting in the front seats. Its door panels, floating center console and dashboard with a two- or three-screen setup are basically identical to we first saw in the little electric sedan.

These screens are part of the new Superscreen setup the automaker is touting, and while they aren't as slick as the seamless unit found in the upcoming GLC EV, they're still pretty cool. What we've got here is a 10.25-inch screen that serves as your digital gauge cluster, a 14-inch touchscreen display that'll serve as the main infotainment system in the middle, and then an optional second 14-inch passenger display off to the far right. If you don't get the passenger screen, there's a trim panel with ambient lighting. I didn't get to poke around too much, but as it should operate identically to the CLA's system, it'll quite good and easy to use. The whole thing is powered by Benz's new MB.OS supercomputer operating system that can do all of the voice controlling and configurations you could ever want with an AI assistant that mostly listens to what you say.

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You also get the same ambient lighting setup, air vent controls and button layout as the CLA. The steering wheel is also a carryover, and while it's very similar to other recent Mercedes-Benz models, the automaker did add back on a couple physical controls, like a volume knob. If you're the type of person who enjoys good sound quality, Mercedes has you covered with an 850-watt 16-speaker Burmester 3D Surround Sound System that has Dolby Atmos, which is sure to make the (relatively) small GLB sound quite lovely.

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Without a doubt, the GLB is still a compact crossover. It has only grown 1.9 inches in length (now 186.3 inches), but Mercedes is touting that the new car has a hell of a lot more space on the inside thanks to a redesigned roofline and standard panoramic sunroof (which can now feature illuminated three-pointed stars). With the third row folded down, the GLB will have 17 cubic feet of cargo room; that increases to 19.1 if you go with the five-seater model. If that isn't enough for you, throw some of your crap in the 4.5 cubic foot frunk or drop the second row of seats.

That second row of seats is also now mounted on sliders and the rear doors open wider, which makes getting into the third row — something you should never wish on an adult GLB passenger — a bit easier. To be fair, even Mercedes admits that no one over 5-foot-5 should be sitting back there. In any case, second-row passengers now have an extra 2.4 inches of legroom, which means a lot in a car as small as the GLB.

The new GLB does a good job of updating the current car's cute and boxy looks while not losing what made the design such a winner among buyers. Like all new Mercedes-Benz models, there are about 6 million three-pointed stars on the outside of this car, especially on the electric GLB that has dozens of illuminated stars in the grille. The headlights and taillights also have stars in them, which almost do enough to distract from the handlebar mustache lightbar effect going on at both the front and rear, but that's neither here nor there. I know it's not to everybody's liking, but the stars don't bother me. BMW has the kidney grille, which it exaggerates. Mercedes has the three-pointed star, which it exaggerates. It is what it is.

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Even though the car is longer than it was before, to maintain the cube-like appearance designers employed some tricks of the eye, like gloss black lower trim pieces, to give it a shorter look. The car also gets the same flush-mounted door handles as the rest of the Mercedes lineup (now with better mechanical feel), as well as more pronounced roof rails up top and some new wheel designs that top out at 20 inches.

Visually, it's very hard to tell the electric and gas-powered GLBs apart. Other than the grille having open intakes (and physical stars in the mesh instead of lights) and a few other slightly different fascia elements, the two cars are virtually identical. It's a far cry from when Mercedes was running two parallel vehicle programs for gas and EV cars that occupied the same segment.

It's going to be a little while before we start to see second-generation GLBs in the U.S. — I'm talking about a year from now, next winter, and that's for the electric version. The gas car is expected to come out after the EV in early 2027.

We also don't have pricing just yet, but we can get some information if we look at prices for Germany. Mercedes says the GLB250+ will start at about $55,700, not including destination and using December 5's exchange rate, with the GLB350 4Matic slated to start at about $58,600. For reference, the current gas-powered GLB starts at $43,800, while the electric EQB250+ starts at $53,050, so U.S. prices for the EV should be roughly aligned with the existing EQB.

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It's hard to say what state the automotive world will be in when the GLB finally goes on sale at the end of 2026. Maybe there will be an upswing in EV buyers. Maybe that market will have collapsed completely. Maybe Donald Trump will ban all imported cars in general, or maybe automakers will all be selling kei cars. It's impossible to say, but you can bank on the idea that boxy is still going to be in style.

The GLB isn't the only small, cute, boxy SUV that Mercedes is working on. At some point soon, probably next year, the three-pointed star will be revealing its new smaller G-wagen model, which has been described as both the "Little G" and the "Baby G." Also an EV, the 'lil G will have its own bespoke partial-ladder-frame platform (also with many components from the GLB's MMA architecture), with blatantly G-Class-inspired styling that won't just look like a tweaked GLB.