Mercedes-Benz G-Class EV Cargo Test: How Much Fits in the Trunk?

• The Mercedes-Benz G-Class specs say it has 34.8 cubic feet of cargo space.
• That seems way too small given the actual space.
• Our real-world test shows how much stuff it can actually hold.

Here's the G-Class' cargo area in all its cube-like glory. This cargo area truly is unique with its prominent bench-like wheel humps and the cargo cover that doesn't even go halfway up from floor to ceiling. It's also, you know, the boxiest cargo area ever. 

This picture also gives me an opportunity to talk about two key elements. First is that seemingly low cargo number. Prior experience with the Mercedes GLC and my own S212 Mercedes E 350 wagon has shown that Mercedes often measures the cargo volume of hatchbacked vehicles from the floor to the top of the seatback. Most other brands publish cargo volumes measured from the floor to the ceiling. That sure seems like what's going on here, and you can see just how much volume Mercedes is leaving on the table by publishing that measurement. 

Second: that cargo cover. It crosses so low because the rear quarter windows are so low, making the sills also low. If you're going to have a cargo cover, it's gonna have to be that low. 

Usually, I would test with and without the cargo cover, but as you'll see, that just wasn't necessary. Also, because my bags were so quite obviously going to fit, I just skipped ahead and included the normal bonus items to move things along. 

Speaking of which, here's some nice boilerplate information about their dimensions. There are two bags you'd definitely have to check at the airport: Big Gray (26 inches long x 16.5 inches wide x 12 inches deep) and Big Blue (26 x 16.5 x 10). There are three roll-aboards that usually fit as carry-on: Medium Tall (24 x 14 x 9), Medium Wide (23 x 15 x 9) and the smaller Green Bag (21 x 14 x 9.5). Finally, there's everyone's favorite Fancy Bag (21 x 12 x 11), a medium-size duffle.

See why I cut to the chase? All that stuff with room to spare, visibility maintained and the cargo cover barricading it all in place. I extended the crazy-tall headrests up to act as an extra bag blocker, but it was really only necessary on the left side. 

Going back to the cargo volume issue for a second, these exact same items filled the CR-V Hybrid almost to the ceiling with scarce room to spare. So, yeah, Mercedes definitely wasn't measuring to the roof. 

Let's take a quick look at this craziness. This is my biggest bag stacked on its side with my second-biggest bag lying on top of both it and the bench-like wheel hump. One of my Medium Bags is then lying on top of that. The full tower is only to the top of the head restraint (usually where I stack to) with plenty of air above it and the ceiling. Crazy!

Now, I wouldn't actually load like this because the Medium Bag would totally slide off in the first left turn. This formation was really just to show how high you can stack bags in the G-Class and set up what's next.

This was basically everything I fit in the Toyota 4Runner, including the good ol' Cozy Coupe Sport. The non-hybrid 4Runner has a cargo volume of 48.4 cubic feet, so I'm guessing that with apples-to-apples measurements, the G-Class should be somewhere in that vicinity, possibly more. Again, look how high the Fancy Bag is without impacting visibility or flying forward thanks to the headrests. (It would probably slide to the left as-is, but I could've easily adjusted it to prevent that.) 

Of course, you could stuff even more back there, but to maintain visibility (a cargo test rule), I stopped here. 

OK, now onto another oddity.

Because this test vehicle was the G 580 with EQ Technology, also known as the Electric G-wagen, it does not come standard with the usual spare tire mounted to the swing gate. Instead it has this weird swing-open rigid backpack that holds the charge cable with very little space for anything else. 

I don't get it. As you've just seen, there's plenty of room in the cargo area to squirrel away the charge cable, and I think I'd prefer to have a spare tire. Sure, it would add weight, but dude, it's a G-wagen packed with batteries. There are Jovian moons that weigh less. 

I suppose the spare tire makes the swing gate even harder to open and close (good luck clacking it shut on the first try), but isn't that part of the G-Class experience? If the cargo area doesn't feel like you're opening a bank vault, what's even the point?