Now the Pope can do tank turns in his electric Mercedes G-Wagen


This is not the first time that a three-pointed star has appeared on sacred vehicles. Mercedes for a long time supplied cars for the Pope and the Vatican. While the Pontiff had various “Papamobili” over the years, some G-Wagen models have been in the fleet for more than four decades. Now, however, Pope Francis will be rocking a new one electric G-class. It’s unlikely we’ll see His Holiness doing tank reverses in St. Peter’s Square, but it’s cool to know he could if he wanted to.

The new Popemobile is based on the Mercedes G580 with EQ technology (who at Mercedes thought that was a good name?), so it has four electric motors, one for each wheel. In the regular electric G580, they make 579 horsepower and 859 lb-ft of torque, but Mercedes claims the Pope’s car was developed in collaboration with the Vatican for its characteristic low-speed cruising. So it may produce less power or maybe just have some sort of parade mode. Pope Francis’ second encyclical, Laudato Si, criticizes environmental degradation and our negative impact on global warming. So the decision to change the regular G-class to an electric one is quite understandable.

Visually, this new Popemobile looks like an old G-Class convertible, so it’s not exactly pretty. But then again, it shouldn’t be. However, this pickup-style bed behind the center pillar is not designed for transportation. Instead, it has a massive swivel seat that Pope Francis will ride on. Behind it are two small folding seats, probably for members of the Swiss Guard. It also comes with a separate hard top that can be put in place when it rains.

This project was developed jointly by the production team in Graz, Austria, where all G-classes are made, Mercedes of Italy and the Vatican. Executives and engineers involved in the project were invited to the Vatican to personally deliver the new papal car outside St. Peter’s Basilica, where the teams met Pope Francis in person.

One of the nicknames of Pope Francis is “People’s Pope”. Maybe it’s just me, but I think people really want to see him in the back of this new popemobile as it tears up tanky turns on some Italian off-road tracks.

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