It’s relatively rare that Stuff gets to talk about the pope. Generally, we avoid religion unless artificial intelligence and Balenciaga are involved (apparently), but this also applies when the leader of the Catholic faith upgrades his vehicle to an EV.
Mercedes Benz has revamped Pope Francis’ popemobile (its unofficial title) to be a little more eco-friendly. The German automaker has supplied vehicles to the papacy for almost 100 years. For 45 of those, the car chosen to ferry the pontiff was a modified G-Class. Well, His Holiness is about to experience instant torque.
To the Popemobile!
The Mercedes G-Class Popemobile is sticking around but the German manufacturer is swapping out the internal combustion engine for something more modern. It’ll be ready for the 2025 Jubilee, an event that takes place once every 25 years. It’ll begin on 24 December 2024 when Francis opens the doors of St. Peter’s Basilica and will continue for several weeks.
Mercedes has provided the details of the new G580 EV’s electric drivetrain and it’s unlikely the religion leader will pull any Gs as his motorcade zooms from point to point. It has been optimised for slower journeys instead, with a focus on zero emissions instead of the bone-crushing acceleration the standard version is capable of.
The production G580 chucks out 579 horsepower and a 0 to 100km/h time of 4.6 seconds. The specialised version may be capable of similar feats but we wouldn’t expect the Vatican (or Merc) to say if it was. If the Popemobile is speeding away, it’s probably not because His Holiness is late for Mass.
