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Test Drive: 2024 Mercedes-Benz eSprinter

From Los Angeles to Huntington Beach, CA on a mix of city streets and highways

Evan Orensten

7 February 2024

The new eSprinter is a major step toward Mercedes-Benz’s commitment to a fully electric future of mobility, and is certain to be an increasingly important segment of their van market. Though we are more frequently behind the wheel of the brand’s passenger vehicles, given the importance of this product in the commercial and fleet space (and very likely consumer space too) we wanted to experience it first-hand and had the opportunity to drive it from Los Angeles to Huntington Beach, CA on a mix of city streets and highways.

While quite large (it’s 170″ long with a high roof and can hold 488 cu ft of cargo up to 2,634 lbs and tow up to 4,200 lbs.), it’s actually very easy to drive, and more comfortable than other products in the segment that we’ve experienced. Other than its electric powertrain, the eSprinter is nearly identical to its non-electric twin, and the latest MBUX infotainment system is an available option. Not surprisingly, it drives like a van, specifically one made with cities in mind. As with all electric vehicles, torque is immediately available, so you can easily accelerate to merge into traffic or as needed. It’s not an AMG, and is obviously not made for athletic performance. It’s limited to 70 mph, adequate for nearly every use. Because of the electric motor the interior is noticeably quieter.

“The new Mercedes-Benz eSprinter underlines our claim to ‘Lead in Electric’ and kicks off the next stage of our electrification strategy. Its versatility and flexibility make the new eSprinter the ideal vehicle for a wide range of applications,” says Mathias Geisen, Head of Mercedes-Benz Vans. The gasoline-powered range includes several models, and it’s likely that we’ll see more eSprinter models added to the portfolio over the next few years. While currently more expensive than its gasoline powered twin, starting at $74,181 (which includes destination fees) the savings over using diesel fuel add up quickly, and of course there’s the marketing desire / opportunity to use and share that the company uses electric vehicles. It may also provide more access to certain city areas or lanes dedicated for EV use.

This is a workhorse, designed for small businesses, delivery and service fleets, and mobile workshops. Most customers will take delivery in a standard “panel” configuration, but other options are available. The conversion market has been anxiously awaiting its arrival with plentiful options for sport, camping and mobile offices coming soon. The eSprinter is new to the US and China, and will be made in the company’s North Charlston, SC plant in the US, and their Düsseldorf and Ludwigsfelde plants in Germany.

The eSprinter sits on a new platform, called VAN.EA (Van Electric Architecture), that will support all upcoming electric models. Its battery pack sits under the van’s floor between its axles, and its 286 lb permanent magnet synchronous electric motor, delivering 295 lb feet of torque (available in either 100 or 150 kw variants), sits alongside the electric rear axle. The batteries are LFP (lithium ferro-phosphate) and nickel- and cobalt-free. Drivers can select three driving modes—comfort, eco and extended range, and one of five energy recuperation modes. Estimated range is 273 miles, which varies based on driving style, weather, etc. AC and DC charging is supported, and the ports are accessed behind the Mercedes-Benz star in the grille. Specified maintenance is included for the first four service visits over four years, or up to 100,000 miles.

Learn more at Merceds-Benz Vans.

Podcast Design

Maximilian Büsser: Design Tangents Episode Eleven

The punk rock provocateur of Swiss watchmaking on creating to fulfill your own desires

Josh Rubin

7 February 2024

Our latest Design Tangents podcast guest, Maximilian Büsser (who we have known for more than 15 years) is nothing less than a renegade in the very traditional Swiss watch world. As the founder of MB&F he’s continued to surprise and delight watch and clock collectors globally with his visionary pieces—and draw attention to historic partners. In 2014, Büsser was the subject of a COOL HUNTING Video, and one year later we collaborated with the pioneering provocateur on a COOL HUNTING Edition Starfleet Machine. His work manages to be both futuristic and nostalgic—bound by a sense of wonder. Celebrating Swiss watchmaking, human craftsmanship, and mechanical art, MB&F’s creations are much more than time-telling machines (though they do that too).

Büsser began in the traditional watch industry. As a child, he thought he’d be a car designer and studied engineering. However, he ended up at the prestigious maison Jaeger-LeCoultre, back when it was a small brand and at a time when the world did not know what to do with mechanical watches. After seven years at Jaeger-LeCoultre, several as its CEO, he moved to luxury powerhouse Harry Winston, where he began to amass considerable success. “Watchmaking saved me,” he tells us. “It gave me a family. It gave me a life. It gave me a purpose,” he says.

However, there was a disconnect between his success at Harry Winston, his relationship to his own father, and his desire to do what he believes in and be proud of it. He started to imagine a small, disruptive company of his own. In 2005, he stepped away from the mainstream and began to redefine what watches could be. “MB&F is a life decision,” he tells us. “It is not a business decision.”

Büsser is full of advice. “Stop creating to please people. Try to create for yourself,” the entrepreneur says. “That’s not something you’re brought up on. I want to create something that I love.” Büsser adds that, at first, he didn’t know what he loved and part of the process with MB&F has been uncovering it. To learn more about what’s inspired him, how he has upended the industry and what he hopes for the future of the brand, listen in to Design Tangents now.

Subscribe to Design Tangents on all major podcast platforms, including Apple and Spotify, so that when each episode comes out it’ll be ready and waiting in your player of choice.

Design Tangents is presented by Genesis and produced and edited by SANDOW Design Group. Special thanks to the podcast production team: Rob Schulte and Rachel Senatore and to Amber Lin for creating our show art. Discover more design podcasts from SURROUND at surroundpodcasts.com.

Podcast Design

Suchi Reddy: Design Tangents Episode Ten

Diving into the dance between emotion and logic in the design process with the acclaimed architect, artist, teacher and neuroaesthetics practitioner

Josh Rubin

24 January 2024

Our latest Design Tangents podcast guest, Suchi Reddy has inspired COOL HUNTING writers, editors and readers for years now. The founder of the architecture, art and design firm Reddymade, Reddy is an architect, artist, teacher and a practitioner of the mantra “form follows feeling.” Her roster of perspective-shifting works includes the mesmeric large-scale installation “Look Here” inside Washington DC’s National Building Museum, the immersive “me + you” sculpture for the FUTURES exhibition at the Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building, the beloved “X” pavilion for Times Square Arts and a range of residential and commercial architectural projects including Google’s first retail store. Reddy, a passionate thought leader in creating spaces that make us feel, was the ideal guest to discuss the dance between emotion and logic in the design process; her insights inform and inspire.

The breadth and depth of Reddy’s work is unified by her values and distinct perspective. “I do not look at people’s work and say that’s interesting to me because of a style,” she tells us. “It’s interesting to me because of its substance—because of the idea that’s being explored. People ask if I’m a modernist? Yes, I am. But mostly, however, I’m a serenist. I will make whatever you want—but serene. If you’re a maximalist, or a developer that wants a beautifully energizing space, that’s what I’ll do, because I want to try to understand the feeling of the space or project that I need to communicate.” Reddy wants to direct design conversations around style to that of “the democratic space of the body. I want people to be able to understand spaces through their senses, through their feelings.”

For Reddy’s practice, art and architecture work in tandem. Her contributions to the public art space also allow her clients access into her brain. “My practice is quite unusual in that it covers architecture, interior design, public art installations and artistic works. We’re also interested in the research that underpins the workings of neuroaesthetics, a study that looks at how spaces and experiences impact our brains and bodies.” Through neuroaesthetics, Reddy designs an agenda of equity, equality, agency and empathy for all that she creates.

“21 years into doing this, what keeps me going is the fact that I feel this incredible satisfaction when something is made,” she says. Whether her work manifests as a private residence, or a collaboration unveiling at Milan Design Week, it is predicated on an understanding that we build our worlds outward from our bodies—and feelings will always influence our intepretation of everything that we see. Listen to the latest episode to learn more about the ways that form follows feeling.

Subscribe to Design Tangents on all major podcast platforms, including Apple and Spotify, so that when each episode comes out it’ll be ready and waiting in your player of choice.

Design Tangents is presented by Genesis and produced and edited by SANDOW Design Group. Special thanks to the podcast production team: Rob Schulte and Rachel Senatore and to Amber Lin for creating our show art. Discover more design podcasts from SURROUND at surroundpodcasts.com.