The new Mercedes-Benz VLE electric people carrier replaces the EQV and pushes the firm's MPV offering even further upmarket with premium tech, a long range and the latest connectivity features.

The VLE Is the first model based on Mercedes' new VAN.EA platform, which will underpin its future van-shaped EVs, including an ultra-luxurious VLS MPV.

"We hope that we can address customers who aren't even looking at a V-Class today," chief engineer Benjamin Kaehler told Autocar.

"Maybe this could be a customer who's buying an E-Class today but wants an additional seat, or he wants just more space because he wants to transport a bicycle every once in a while but the E-Class isn't big enough."

The first variant will be the VLE 300, offering 268bhp and a range of more than 435 miles, thanks to a large, 115kWh nickel-manganese-cobalt battery. Its electrical architecture runs at 800V, enabling a suitably high-powered charger to add 199 miles of range in just 15 minutes. It's also capable of bidirectional charging. There will also be a more powerful, four-wheel-drive VLE 400 with 409bhp and a 0-62mph time of 6.5sec.

Additional entry-level models will arrive next year, fitted with 80kWh lithium-iron-phosphate batteries. Combustion-engined variants, based on the related VAN.CA platform, will follow at a later date.

The 5309mm-long VLE has a lower, more streamlined silhouette than the outgoing V-Class and EQV, giving it a drag coefficient of just 0.25 - the same as the swoopy EQE SUV, for reference. To help improve its manoeuvrability, its rear wheels can steer at angles of up to 7deg, shortening the turning circle to just 10.9m.

The VLE also heralds Mercedes' new MB.OS operating system, which features an Al-powered voice assistant and can accept over-the-air software updates. An optional Superscreen spans the entire dashboard, while in the rear a 31.3in, 8K-resolution display can drop from the headliner for passengers entertainment and wellbeing.

The VLE can be configured to accommodate between five and eight people in new, manually adjustable seats. As in the comparable Volkswagen Multivan, the seats can be removed entirely to create 4078 litres of load space, but uniquely they are equipped with rollers so that they can be wheeled rather than carried when outside the van. Alternatively, customers can option in electronically adjustable rear seats that can be repositioned through preset configurations.

Mercedes said the VLE is focused on passenger experience and comfort, which is why it also features a newly developed rear axle to maximise ride quality. Kaehler said it's "extra-smooth and super-quiet". In an effort to be as efficient as possible, the VLE uses map data to maintain its lowest aerodynamic setting on motorways, thanks in part to the optional Airmatic air suspension, which can alter the ride height by up to 40mm. This should make it feel more like an S-Class than a Sprinter van.

The upmarket nature of the VLE will also be reflected in part in future VAN.EA-based commercial vehicles, and while Kaehler pointed out that the touchpoints will be less plush, the overall characteristics of the vehicles will not.

"We wouldn't want to make it extra commercial in terms of driving," said Kaehler.

"We're not going to make it worse."