Compare the2025 Genesis GV80VS 2024 Mercedes GLE

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Ergonomics
Recommendations

Safety

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Both the GV80 and GLE have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The GV80 has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The GLE’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the GV80 are reminded to check the back seat when a sensor determines the back seat is occupied. The GLE doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

The GV80 has a standard front seat center airbag, which deploys between the driver and front passenger, protecting them from injuries caused by striking each other in serious side impacts. The GLE doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.

Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The GV80 offers optional Parking Collision-Avoidance Assist-Reverse that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The GLE doesn’t offer automatic braking for stationary objects directly to the rear.

The GV80’s standard lane departure warning system alerts a temporarily inattentive driver when the vehicle begins to leave its lane and gently nudges the vehicle back towards its lane. A lane departure warning system costs extra on the GLE.

Both the GV80 and the GLE have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front and rear seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, all wheel drive, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, driver alert monitors and available around view monitors.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH, results indicate that the Genesis GV80 is safer than the Mercedes GLE:

	GV80	GLE
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	29	40
Chest Movement	.5 inches	.7 inches
Abdominal Force	101 lbs.	151 lbs.
	Rear Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	70	103
Spine Acceleration	26 G’s	40 G’s
Hip Force	458 lbs.	677 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

Side impacts caused 23% of all road fatalities in 2018, down from 29% in 2003, when the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety introduced its side barrier test. In order to continue improving vehicle safety, the IIHS has started using a more severe side impact test: 37 MPH (up from 31 MPH), with a 4180-pound barrier (up from 3300 pounds). The results of this newly developed test demonstrates that the Genesis GV80 is safer than the GLE:

	GV80	GLE
Overall Evaluation	GOOD	GOOD
Structure	GOOD	GOOD
	Driver Injury Measures
Head/Neck	GOOD	GOOD
Neck Tension	178 lbs.	201 lbs.
Torso	GOOD	ACCEPTABLE
Shoulder Deflection	.39 in	.87 in
Torso Max Deflection	.75 in	1.34 in
Pelvis	GOOD	ACCEPTABLE
Pelvis Force	669 lbs.	1026 lbs.
Head Protection	GOOD	GOOD
	Passenger Injury Measures
Head/Neck	GOOD	GOOD
Head Injury Criterion	49	232
Torso	GOOD	GOOD
Torso Deflection Rate	3 MPH	7 MPH
Pelvis	ACCEPTABLE	ACCEPTABLE
Pelvis Force	915 lbs.	1116 lbs.
Head Protection	GOOD	GOOD

Warranty

The GV80 comes with a full 5-year/60,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire truck and includes free 24-hour roadside assistance. The GLE’s 4-year/50,000-mile basic warranty expires 1 year or 10,000 miles sooner.

Genesis’ powertrain warranty covers the GV80 6 years and 50,000 miles longer than Mercedes covers the GLE. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 10 years or 100,000 miles. Coverage on the GLE ends after only 4 years or 50,000 miles.

The GV80’s corrosion warranty is 2 years longer than the GLE’s (7 vs. 5 years).

Genesis pays for scheduled maintenance on the GV80 for 3 years and 36,000 miles. Genesis will pay for oil changes, tire rotations, air filter replacements, cabin filter replacement, brake fluid replacement, inspections, and any other required maintenance. Mercedes doesn’t pay scheduled maintenance for the GLE.

Reliability

J.D. Power and Associates rated the GV80 third among upper midsize premium suvs in their 2024 Initial Quality Study. The GLE isn’t in the top three.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2024 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Genesis vehicles are better in initial quality than Mercedes vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Genesis above average in initial quality. With 22 more problems per 100 vehicles, Mercedes is rated below average.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2024 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Genesis vehicles are more reliable than Mercedes With 18 fewer problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, J.D. Power ranks Genesis higher than Mercedes.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2024 Auto Issue reports that Genesis vehicles are more reliable than Mercedes vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Genesis 11 places higher in reliability than Mercedes.

Engine

As tested in Motor Trend the GV80 2.5T 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder is faster than the GLE 350 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder:

	GV80	GLE
Zero to 60 MPH	6.4 sec	7.6 sec
Quarter Mile	14.9 sec	15.8 sec
Speed in 1/4 Mile	94.3 MPH	87.5 MPH

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the GV80 gets better mileage than the GLE running its gasoline engine:

			MPG
GV80
	AWD	2.5 turbo 4-cyl.	19 city/24 hwy
		3.5 turbo V6	16 city/22 hwy
GLE
	AWD	4.0 turbo V8 Hybrid	15 city/20 hwy

The GV80 has 3.9 gallons more fuel capacity than the GLE 450e’s standard fuel tank (21.1 vs. 17.2 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

Brakes and Stopping

For better stopping power the GV80’s standard brake rotors are larger than those on the GLE:

	GV80	GLE
Front Rotors	14.2 inches	13 inches
Rear Rotors	14.2 inches	13 inches

The GV80’s standard front and rear disc brakes are vented to help dissipate heat for shorter stops with less fading. The rear discs standard on the GLE 350 are solid, not vented.

The GV80 stops much shorter than the GLE:

	GV80	GLE
70 to 0 MPH	163 feet	174 feet	Car and Driver
60 to 0 MPH	112 feet	130 feet	Motor Trend

Tires and Wheels

For better traction, the GV80 has larger tires than the GLE (265/40R22 vs. 255/50R19).

Suspension and Handling

The GV80’s front to rear weight distribution is more even (51% to 49%) than the GLE’s (53.5% to 46.5%). This gives the GV80 more stable handling and braking.

The GV80 Prestige handles at .86 G’s, while the GLE 450 pulls only .84 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

The GV80 Prestige executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 1.3 seconds quicker than the GLE 350 (26.9 seconds @ .65 average G’s vs. 28.2 seconds @ .62 average G’s).

For greater off-road capability the GV80 has a greater minimum ground clearance than the GLE (8.1 vs. 7.9 inches), allowing the GV80 to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged.

Chassis

The Genesis GV80 may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 400 to 650 pounds less than the Mercedes GLE.

To almost totally eliminate engine vibration in the passenger area, the GV80 3.5T has a liquid-filled front engine mount. The liquid helps further dampen engine harshness. The GLE uses conventional solid rubber engine mounts.

The front grille of the GV80 uses electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The GLE doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

The GV80 Prestige uses computer-generated active noise cancellation to help remove annoying noise and vibration from the passenger compartment, especially at low frequencies. The GLE doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

Passenger Space

The GV80 has 1.3 inches more front legroom, .9 inches more front shoulder room and 1.5 inches more rear headroom than the GLE.

For enhanced passenger comfort on long trips the GV80’s middle and third row seats recline. The GLE’s third row seats don’t recline.

Cargo Capacity

The GV80’s cargo area provides more volume than the GLE.

	GV80	GLE
Third Seat Removed	38.7 cubic feet	33.3 cubic feet

Both the GV80 and the GLE have standard second row automatic folding seats. The GV80’s third row seats also fold up or down at the press of a button. The GLE doesn’t offer automatic folding third row seats.

Ergonomics

To improve rear visibility by keeping the rear window clear, the GV80 has a standard rear fixed intermittent wiper with a full on position. The rear wiper standard on the GLE only has an intermittent setting, so in a hard rain visibility isn’t as good.

Consumer Reports rated the GV80’s headlight performance “Fair,” a higher rating than the GLE’s headlights, which were rated “Poor.”

The GV80 has a standard heated steering wheel to take the chill out of steering on extremely cold winter days before the vehicle heater warms up. A heated steering wheel costs extra on the GLE.

Both the Genesis GV80 and the Mercedes GLE have a standard Qi wireless phone charging system in the front seat. To easily keep personal devices charged in the second row seat, without cables tangling and wearing out, the GV80 also offers an optional wireless charging system.

The GV80 Advanced/Prestige’s Smart Parking Assist can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, starting, stopping and changing direction automatically. Remote Smart Parking Assist will park and retrieve your car remotely: press a button and watch it park itself. This is ideal for tight locations. The GLE’s automatic parking system does not offer parking by remote control.

Recommendations

The GV80 was chosen as a Car and Driver’s “Top Ten” for 2021. The GLE has never been chosen by Car and Driver in their “10Best” issue.