Enlarge / The Mercedes-Benz E-Class is the brand's workhorse, covering millions of km a year ferrying German taxi passengers around. (credit: Peter Nelson)

Mercedes-Benz's E Class badge possesses a lot of canon. When asked to picture a '90s-or-newer Mercedes full-size sedan, it's hard not to conjure up mental snapshots of W124-and-up generations schlepping around well-heeled suburban communities. I bet a lot of folks also picture the taxi lineup outside any German train station, too.

Well, at least I do. But I'm not talking about envisioning surly Munich cabbies but rather the faithful four-doors they putter around in. A lot of them are E Classes, which further proves that the cars have always been quintessential Mercedes luxury workhorses.

The brand-new 2024 E 350 4Matic, with its thrifty turbo-four powerplant, might have the most direct lineage in the US market to those cream-colored rickety diesels. It's easy on fuel for its size and ready to soak up all the miles across both traffic-ridden cityscapes and high-speed stretches of highway. And with its expansive suite of tech and mild hybrid propulsion, it's an overall great next chapter for the badge.

Enlarge / Mercedes-Benz's next EV will be the CLA, which makes use of the very efficient powertrain tech we tested in the Vision EQXX concept . (credit: Mercedes-Benz)

Mercedes-Benz is the latest automaker to dial back its electric vehicle ambitions. In 2021, the company published its electrification plan, which called for it to sell only battery EVs from 2030, at least in countries with the infrastructure to support that . Today, Mercedes published its annual results for 2023, and it's clear that the company has little confidence that any region will be ready for EVs-only sales by that date.

Mercedes isn't giving up on EVs, but it now says it only expects electrified vehicles—which include hybrid EVs as well as BEVs—to account for half its overall sales in the second half of this decade. While it says it is taking the necessary steps to go all-electric, it also "plans to be in a position to cater to different customer needs, whether it’s an all-electric drivetrain or an electrified combustion engine, until well into the 2030s."

The change, evidently, has been percolating within Mercedes' board rooms for some time. Last September, CEO Ola Kaellenius warned that even Europe would not be ready for an entirely electric lineup by 2030.

Enlarge / Mercedes-Benz has electrified its Sprinter van and given it more range than Ford's E-Transit or the Rivian Delivery Van. (credit: Tim Stevens)

There are plenty of ways for small businesses to celebrate their success. It might be a flashy new sign outside, a high-end furniture set inside, or an advertising campaign that they might never have imagined when they started up. But, for businesses literally on the move, the purchase of a first new van is definitely a major milestone. In 2024, the Mercedes-Benz eSprinter may become the new aspirational acquisition for many small businesses.

Lots of range and lots of space

The Sprinter has been on the US market for over 20 years since it began production at the Mercedes-Benz factory in Charleston, South Carolina. The new eSprinter marks the first time it has gone fully electric, and yes, that version will be assembled in America, too, augmented with a 113 kWh lithium ferro phosphate (LFP) battery pack powering a 134 hp (100 kW) or 201 hp (150 kW) motor driving only the rear wheels. Mercedes estimates a range of 273 miles (440 km) on the European WLTP cycle, which will probably mean somewhere around 250 miles (402 km) when tested with the US EPA cycle .

That battery pack is situated in the floor, between the frame rails, still making room for a cavernous, 488 cubic-foot (13,819 L) cargo compartment. At nearly 24 feet long (280 inches/7,112 mm), it's enough space to carry about a dozen pinball machines or an entire Jabba the Hutt, complete with all his cackling cronies.

Enlarge / Mercedes-Benz receives approvals for turquoise-colored automated driving marker lights in California and Nevada (credit: Mercedes-Benz)

Authorities in California and Nevada have both granted Mercedes-Benz permission to test out a new car-to-human communication idea. While we're still some way away from road cars emoting like some of the concepts we've seen in the past few years, the automaker will use turquoise-colored marker lights to indicate when its advanced partially automated driver assistance feature is operating so other road users are aware.

Mercedes' Drive Pilot system is what's known as Level 3, or conditionally automated driver assist, according to the SAE International's classification system. In some ways, it's similar to so-called Level 2+ systems like General Motors' Super Cruise or Ford's BlueCruise in that it has a tightly controlled operational design domain that only allows it to operate on pre-mapped restricted access highways.

But unlike those systems, Drive Pilot lets you take your hands and eyes off the road. That's because it will only work at speeds of up to 40 mph (65 km/h)—it's not meant for cruising at speed. The lower speed envelope means there's enough time for Drive Pilot to warn the human behind the wheel that it's time to think about driving and take over.

Enlarge / Mercedes-Benz is launching a network of branded EV charging sites, and some of them are coming to Buc-ee's travel centers, so you can stock up on cake balls while you charge your EV. (credit: Mercedes-Benz/Buc-ee's/Jonathan Gitlin)

Fast electric vehicle charging is coming to Buc-ee's, the Texas-based travel center chain with a cult following. On Thursday it announced a partnership with Mercedes-Benz to build charging hubs at Buc-ee's travel centers along major transit corridors in the South and Southeast, including I-75 and I-95. The announcement says that "about 30" should be operational by the end of 2024, but that Mercedes plans to build charging hubs at most Buc-ee's locations.

Last week Mercedes revealed it is also partnering with shopping center operator Simon to bring Mercedes charging hubs to at least 55 Simon properties across the US and Canada.

Mercedes revealed in January it was getting into the EV infrastructure game with a plan to build out more than 400 charging hubs by 2027, under the Mercedes-Benz HPC North America banner. To do so, it partnered with ChargePoint, which provides EV charging solutions, as well as MN8 Energy, a solar and battery-storage company that will mean the Mercedes charging hubs will use entirely renewable energy to recharge their customers.