Mercedes-Benz GL 350 CDI long term review final report

Range Anxiety. The big worry that you’ll run out of juice before you reach home is always a sticky point with electric cars. But here in Mahabaleshwar, in the month of May, the peak holiday season when everyone runs to the hills to escape the heat, car owners are facing Range Anxiety too. And it’s not because everyone is zipping around in E20s...

Regular Mahabaleshwar goers will know that trying to tank up your car during peak season can be a nightmare. Not only do you have to queue up for ages at one of the two crowded pumps that service the hill station, but often enough, they’ve completely run out of fuel. Chances are that the neighbouring Panchgani has run dry too.

Often enough, I’ve had to light-foot it with one eye on the fuel gauge ‘Empty’ light glowing bright, in search of the nearest pump, praying it has fuel. Anxious moments like this make you wish you had a car with the range of an Airbus. Our longterm GL350 CDI comes close — its massive tank of 100 litres, which safely equates to around 850km between fill-ups, means that I can drive to Mahabaleshwar, roam around for a good 300km and come back home, all on one tankful of diesel. I have to admit it’s a great feeling to drive past long lines of cars waiting to be filled, smug with the assurance that I won’t have to join that queue.