- In the 2025 Mercedes-AMG E53, a 3.0-liter twin-turbo six-cylinder and electric motor produce 576 horsepower.
- A sizable 21.2-kWh battery targets 62 miles of EV range, but that’s under the generous European WLTP.
- Optional Dynamic Plus package adds more performance and upgraded brakes to this new member of the E-class family.
We have grown used to the idea of cars getting more powerful over successive generations, but electrification has dramatically increased this trend. The last Mercedes-AMG E53 sedan in the U.S. boasted an entirely respectable 429 horsepower from its turbocharged six-cylinder engine. The new 2025 version will use a plug-in-hybrid powertrain to give a significantly enhanced 576 horsepower—or 603 hp when using the optional Race Start mode. Those figures mean the new E53 makes more power than the previous-generation Mercedes-AMG E63 S. This is the sort of inflation we can all get behind.
The new E53 Hybrid uses the same engine as the GLE53 Hybrid we told you about last October, but it gains a more powerful electric motor. The E53’s 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged straight-six makes a peak of 443 horsepower and works in conjunction with an electric motor that sits between it and the nine-speed transmission within the gearbox housing. It’s capable of delivering up to 161 horsepower and 352 pound-feet by itself, with a short-term power overboost in the Race Start mode that comes as part of the optional AMG Dynamic Plus package. The combined torque peak is quoted at 553 pound-feet. AMG claims a 3.8-second zero-to-62-mph time for the E53 Hybrid sedan in Race Start, and two-tenths slower without it. We managed to reach 60 mph in four seconds flat in the previous E53 Coupe and can safely predict the new car will improve on its official figures.
Electrical power comes from a 21.2-kWh 400-volt battery pack located under the rear floor, which is large enough to deliver meaningful electrical range. In Europe, AMG says it is targeting a 62-mile (or 100-km) WLTP rating, which will unlock EV tax benefits for owners in various countries. EPA numbers will certainly be less than that, but the E53 Hybrid should still be able to deliver more than 40 miles of EV range, and it can drive at up to 87 mph under electrical power. Top speed is quoted in Europe as 155 mph for the regular car, 174 mph with the Dynamic Plus pack.
The E53 Hybrid will also be easier to recharge than most plug-ins tend to be, with the option of 60-kW DC fast-charging that will allow the battery’s state of charge to be taken from 10 to 80 percent in as little as 20 minutes. Even without specifying the DC charger, the onboard AC charger works at up to a respectable 11 kW. The hybrid system has brought two new driving modes, Electric, which runs the car as an EV until the battery depletes, and Battery Hold, which will maintain charge level for later deployment. When driving electrically, the E53 Hybrid has a haptic throttle pedal that will stiffen to indicate the point at which maximum performance is being delivered; pushing beyond that will start the engine and switch to hybrid operation.
While the E53 Hybrid does get to look more muscular than the standard E-class, plenty of visual headroom is still being left for the E63 that we confidently expect to follow. The E53 gets a new radiator grille featuring AMG’s familiar vertical strakes and with an illuminated surround, a deeper front bumper, and widened front fenders (0.4 inch broader on each side). Unfortunately, the fenders also get what looked to be vents set into the trailing edge, but which turned out to be blanks on closer inspection. The mesh for the smaller pseudo-vents on the rear bumper is also contoured rather than real. At the rear are quad tailpipes, a new spoiler on the trunklid, and an E53 badge finished in red indicating that the engine is hybridized.
Interior changes are subtle; beyond discreet AMG branding at the base of the steering wheel and new graphics for the instrument panel, the E53 feels little changed from any other highly equipped E-class. European buyers will be able to choose between the Superscreen, which adds a passenger’s-side monitor to the UX system, or a standard configuration with an open-pore gray ash timber panel featuring the innovation of backlighting. However, the U.S. spec hasn’t been finalized, and it is possible the Superscreen will be standard here.
The AMG still uses a steering column gear selector wand rather than reverting to a separate shifter on the center console as AMG models did until recently. The gearchange paddles behind the steering wheel now have a double function. In the punchier dynamic modes they will indeed offer a driver the change to select ratios, but when running electrically they will vary the levels of regenerative braking. AMG says the most aggressive of these will function as a one-pedal mode.
Hardware improvements for the E53 include double-valve active dampers able to separately adjust rebound and compression. Rear-wheel steering will also be standard, and the body shell gets additional reinforcement to improve stiffness. These changes include a crossbrace between the front strut towers and additional bracing for the rear axle mounts. Four-pot brake calipers gripping 14.5-inch-diameter vented front discs will be standard, with that optional Dynamic Plus upgrading those to six-pot calipers and bigger 15.3-inch rotors.
Deliveries to the U.S. won’t begin until the third quarter of 2024, and we don’t have pricing yet. AMG says that in Europe the new E53 Hybrid is only modestly more expensive than the old version, so we can hope that holds true when it gets to us as well. For reference, the previous E53 sedan was $82,450 in 2022.
Our man on the other side of the pond, Mike Duff lives in Britain but reports from across Europe, sometimes beyond. He has previously held staff roles on U.K. titles including CAR, Autocar, and evo, but his own automotive tastes tend toward the Germanic: he owns both a troublesome 987-generation Porsche Cayman S and a Mercedes 190E 2.5-16.