Ever feel like EV owners can be a little holier-than-thou? Well, here’s one who literally is: His Holiness Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City. Ol’ Frank has just taken delivery of a brand-new Mercedes-Benz G 580 EQ, the battery-electric version of the G-Class, which the automaker’d converted into the latest Popemobile.
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A Papal G (not a rapper’s name) is not a new phenomenon, as multiple Mercedes-based Popemobiles have existed stretching back nearly a century. You can even find the seat from one of the earliest Gelandewagen Popemobiles on display in the Austrian factory where the modern G-Class is built. But an electric Popemobile is new.
While the Vatican has been gifted an Opel Ampera EV and a Nissan Leaf in the past, neither was used as a parade-style Papal conveyance; Fisker was supposed to build the first electric Popemobile circa 2021, but that never panned out.
Even for a guy who occasionally wears a really big hat, the G might seem a bit Rodeo-Drive-bling-y for the Vicar of Christ, and indeed Pope Francis used a humble Fiat on his first visit to the U.S. Here, though, the EV G-Class is specifically intended as a rolling stage for the upcoming Jubilee in Rome, a once-every-25-years event.
Beyond cutting away the rear bodywork and installing a central, high-mounted seat so the faithful can better see him, this G580 has been specifically tuned for slow-paced parade work. It is of course finished in clerical white, and is fitted with the Vatican crest and a removable roof.
Overall, Mercedes’ gift to Pope Francis is as fancy as frankincense and myrrh, but he’ll probably get a lot more actual use out of it than that time Lamborghini gave him a Huracan. The latest Popemobile goes into service next year.
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