{"id":1969499,"date":"2026-06-03T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1969499"},"modified":"2026-06-03T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T21:00:00","slug":"mercedes-vle-a-welcome-return-for-the-mpv-or-an-overhyped-electric-bus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1969499","title":{"rendered":"Mercedes VLE: a welcome return for the MPV, or an overhyped electric bus?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-testid=\"HtmlContent\" class=\"MarkUpWrapper-sc-t20i90-0 hQwWlJ\">\n<h3>Jack Rix: \u201cWe\u2019ve long championed the resurgence of the MPV\u201d<\/h3>\n<p>How to tell you\u2019re firmly installed in your forties? When a new E-van is the product you\u2019re most excited about in the current Merc range. Actually, Merc\u2019s product planners and my age can share the blame for that.<\/p>\n<p>Anyway, we\u2019ve long championed the resurgence of the MPV over the dominance of SUVs and this could be the tipping point: a car with all the unashamed practicality of Volkswagen\u2019s ID.Buzz, but with a range that actually works in the real world. Oh, and a cinema in the back which will keep the kids quiet, making this vehicle effectively priceless.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"HtmlContent\" class=\"MarkUpWrapper-sc-t20i90-0 hQwWlJ\">\n<h3>Ollie Kew: \u201cLet\u2019s have the proof of the VLE be in the eating\u201d<\/h3>\n<p>Steady on there: what\u2019s German for d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu? Once upon a time, certain corners of the TG team got awfully frothy for a bluff-fronted EV bus with a retro design motif, only to find the range was crap, the practicality unrealised, and the infotainment was as disastrous as the depreciation. No, not the Merc.<\/p>\n<p>The VW ID.Buzz was overhyped and undercooked: an ID.4 in ice cream van cosplay. Let\u2019s have the proof of the VLE be in the eating, before we start blowing smoke up its illuminated quasi-grille. Electric Mercs have been the definition of hit and miss \u2013 this one needs to continue the reboot begun by the CLA.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jack Rix: \u201cWe\u2019ve long championed the resurgence of the MPV\u201d How to tell you\u2019re firmly installed in your forties? When a new E-van is the product you\u2019re most excited about in the current Merc range. Actually, Merc\u2019s product planners and my age can share the blame for that. Anyway, we\u2019ve long championed the resurgence of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,237],"class_list":["post-1969499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-topgear-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1969499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1969499"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1969499\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1969499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1969499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1969499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}