Mercedes has celebrated the start of production of the new Mercedes VLE at its Vitoria plant in Spain with a special event attended by Ola Källenius, Chairman of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG, Thomas Klein, Head of Mercedes-Benz Vans, Jordi Hereu, Spain’s Minister of Industry and Tourism, and Imanol Pradales, President of the Basque Autonomous Community.
The Mercedes VLE is the first Mercedes van based on the brand’s new dedicated electric van platform, VAN.EA, featuring 800-volt technology. As such, the Vitoria plant is the first Mercedes facility to build the new VLE. Later, production will also begin in China, specifically for the Chinese market, at the Fuzhou plant from the end of 2026.
The Vitoria plant has been modernized to become carbon-neutral. It now operates exclusively on electricity from renewable sources, including solar energy, geothermal energy, and heat recovery systems from the body shop and paint shop.
The entire modernization process, which included investments in the new body shop, paint shop and assembly areas, as well as upgraded logistics and IT infrastructure, now enables highly flexible multi-powertrain production on a single line—digital, efficient, and future-oriented. The modernization was carried out while production of the current V-Class, Vito, and eVito models continued uninterrupted.
In the future, additional models based on the VAN.EA platform will also be produced at the Vitoria plant, including the more luxurious VLS as well as commercial van variants. The facility will also manufacture versions powered by internal-combustion engines, based on a derivative of the VAN.EA architecture called VAN.CA, which was not originally planned.
The Vitoria plant employs around 5,000 people, who have completed more than 160 training programs to learn new technologies, materials, IT standards, and production processes.
The Mercedes VLE will debut in VLE 300 form with a 275 PS front-mounted motor and as the VLE 400 4Matic with two motors producing 415 PS. Both versions are powered by a 115 kWh NMC battery and offer a WLTP driving range of up to 700 km.
In 2027, the entry-level VLE 250 will join the range, featuring an 80 kWh LFP battery and a WLTP range of approximately 500 km.
