Gle550e android#

That’s all to accommodate the 8.7-kWh of lithium ion battery. When the tailgate is open, it’s immediately apparent that the cargo floor sits several inches above bumper height. What makes this particular GLE special however is the powertrain. They don’t have the multiple massage patterns of the last E and S class sedans I drove, but they were definitely appreciated nonetheless. The seats are comfortable and like many higher end Mercedes models, this one features a built in massage which came in handy after three hours in a coach class seat.

Gle550e android#

Despite the absence of a touchscreen, the COMAND controller works well with the Android interface, twisting takes you between the controls that would be otherwise be touch targets, a pull down brings you to the bottom menu while a push forward triggers the Google Assistant for voice.Īs you would expect of a modern Mercedes-Benz, the materials and execution in the cabin are impeccable and I’m particularly fond of the open-pore wood trim on the dashboard and doors. Getting Android Auto started on the GLE took a bit of digging into the menus, but once I found the right sub-menu, it worked well. The voice recognition of the factory system is about as good as any older Mercedes-Benz or other vehicles developed in the prior decade, which is to say not great.Ģ018 Mercedes-Benz GLE550e Sam Abuelsamid The interface of the stock Mercedes infotainment wasn’t great when it launched the better part of a decade ago, but the GLE does include support for both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. The elements displayed on the screen are managed by the central COMAND controller on the console.ĭespite the relatively old look of the GLE cabin compared to the latest E and S class and the new MBUX infotainment launched this year on the A-Class, it’s not a completely obsolete system.

However, touching the screen doesn’t bring any response which is actually just fine with me, although my wife did try to tap it several times to try to pause audio playback while we were driving. There are rotary knobs for the audio volume and climate controls. The GLE’s age is actually more apparent on the inside where the dashboard still features a discrete central display and plenty of buttons on the center stack.

As one of the oldest vehicles in the Mercedes-Benz lineup, it still bears the hallmarks of the prior generation design language. That means it actually shares a lot of DNA with the current generation Dodge Durango and Jeep Grand Cherokee although you wouldn’t know it to look at these three. The platform is actually one of the last vestiges of the DaimlerChrysler relationship having been largely locked in before the 2006 divorce. While the ML got a facelift and new branding a couple of years ago, the current third-generation of Mercedes’ midsize utility has been around in much the same form since 2011. The combined output of the 85-kW motor and 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 is capped at 436-hp and 479 lb-ft fed to all four wheels through a seven-speed automatic transmission. This time around, the system has more electrical power and a significantly larger lithium ion battery with a plug that can provide some electric only driving. For the GLE, Mercedes-Benz is using an in-house developed hybrid system that is slowly finding its way in multiple model lines.