Mercedes E-Class Estate long-term test: report 2
The Mercedes E-Class makes for an exceptionally comfortable cruiser, but can those credentials be boosted with its unconventional diesel-hybrid set up? We're running one to find out...
The car Mercedes E300de Urban Edition Estate Run by Stuart Milne, digital editor
Why it’s here Diesel plug-in hybrids are few and far between, so we’re seeing whether the combination of long-legged diesel economy and PHEV smoothness delivers
Needs to provide a comfortable, upmarket experience for a family in need of space – with stellar fuel economy
Miles covered 4904 Price £69,970 Target price £69,970 Price as tested £69,970 Official economy 166.2mpg Test economy 90.1mpg
9 August 2025 – Economic certainty
“But I would walk five hundred miles, and I would walk five hundred more,” The Proclaimers once sang in an ode to a loved one. But frankly, they may just as well have been singing about my Mercedes E-Class Estate.
And that’s because thanks to its superb combination of diesel economy, a big (for a plug-in hybrid) 25.4kW battery and excellent software to balance both, I’m not all that far away from covering 1000 miles on a tank of fuel; okay, it’s 900 miles, so I’m a little short of the Proclaimer brothers. But that still equates to a real-world average economy figure of 90.1mpg.
Most of my mileage is clocked up between home and the What Car? office, a 160-mile round trip which comprises fast A-roads, snarling M25 traffic and moderately congested urban streets. But I always try to leave home with a full charge, and in Hybrid mode I’ll usually arrive with about 25-30% left. What’s more, because the E300de manages the transition between diesel and electric so well, I’ve arrived at work registering more than 500mpg on occasion – yes, you did read that right.
With less juice in the battery on my way home, figures of around 60-70mpg are more common here. Still, even this is a mighty figure for such a big, wafty car.
Officially, the E300de can travel 68 miles on electricity alone, but I’m yet to fully discharge the battery to put this to the test. What I can confirm is that it takes three hours to charge from my home EV charger.
There are a number of different drive modes, but I tend to stay in Hybrid whenever possible. I like that the car is still happy to remain EV powered until a sudden surge of acceleration is required, and it’s perfectly possible to drive at the motorway speed limit without leaning on the 2.0-litre diesel engine at all.
It’s a shame, then, that it can be hard to balance the accelerator to make a swift getaway from stationary. Too little gas and the car seems reluctant to awaken from its slumber; too much and its possible to spin the rear wheels, particularly on wet roads.
Yet on my regular routes, I’d happily trade that for the relaxed, quiet and smooth gait which bodes very well for a continental trip I have planned.
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