With smooth power delivery and sporty balance, the 577 hp Mercedes-AMG E 53 Hybrid is a family hauler with plenty of grunt and refinement

There are plenty of car lovers out there aged up through Gen X who remember the wonders of a station wagon. From sleeping in a makeshift bed en route to family vacations to hiding extra guests under blankets while sneaking into drive-in movies to the potential perils of prom night, that long wheelbase and ample storage cabin carried generations toward adulthood in stately safety.

While it’s fair to point out that few of the Family Trucksters of eras gone by were built by luxury German automakers, it’s Mercedes-Benz who’s bringing the wagon back with the 2026 Mercedes-AMG E 53 Hybrid. Entirely new for the onrushing model year, the E-53 proudly dons the wagon mantle with all of the necessary comfort, proportions, and capability—just with a price tag far beyond the orbits of the Ford LTDs of old.

Design

The most charming aspect of this new wagon is its clear willingness to lean into its identity. In this era when cars wedge their bets between classes—when small SUVs are really crossovers and small crossovers are really large hatchbacks—the E-53 is well and truly a wagon. Its long lines sweep a bit lower to its tailgate than its extinct ancestors, but its 195.5-inch length and 116.9-inch wheelbase prove that the Mercedes-Benz designers refused to compromise the dimensions of this luxurious people carrier.

There is a conservative dignity about the E-53’s exterior styling that cuts into a Mercedes-AMG’s innate sexiness. Even though “station” doesn’t sneak into this wagon’s moniker, there’s still the inbuilt expectation that this is a family show.

The design themes for the E-53’s new interior are function and precision. Passing through the AMG tuning shop means any Merc is shaped with performance in mind, including the cockpit feel of employing a racing-inspired wheel and the contoured, elaborate instrumentation under the thumbs (à la a Formula 1 race car).

A sweeping, inset dashboard includes the MBUX Superscreen Package with a 12.3-inch front-passenger display. Other vehicles in the class manage to blend their touchscreens more organically into their control panels, but that’s a minor complaint.

Power train and hardware

The E-53 wagon uses a 3.0-litre turbocharged inline-six engine complemented by a P2 Plug-In Hybrid System and a 161 hp permanently synchronous electric motor. Put that all together, and this PHEV offers 577 hp and seven driving modes that tap into different levels of gasoline and electric cooperation.

“Electric” mode is self-explanatory and offers limited range with no fossil-fuel consumption. “Comfort” balances the ride and moderates fuel consumption. “Sport” and “Sport+” enlist the battery system in support of more aggressive performance, while draining the tank enthusiastically. “Battery Hold” leans more into the gas to save electrons. Finally, “Individual” allows the driver to tinker a bit.

An AMG Speedshift TCT nine-gear transmission sends the power down to the all-wheel-drive configuration, with a composite brake system bringing it all to a stop. In keeping with the E-53’s AMG badging, all of the key performance elements, from the ground up, wear the “high performance” label, providing a notch above the execution of the standard Mercedes-Benz models. (In fairness, there is  no “non-AMG” E 53 Hybrid Wagon to offer contrast, at least as of yet.)

Performance

An eyebrow goes up when one considers the dubious good sense of an AMG-tuned wagon. The Mercedes-Benz engineers chose not to squeeze one of their violent eight-cylinder anger machines into the E-53, but, even with that self-constraint, this is still a family car that must be digitally limited to 249 km/hr under standard factory specifications, while promising acceleration from zero to 100 km/hr in 3.8 seconds. Those are not numbers associated with the wood-panelled Chevy Malibu the world remembers.

The total 745 Nm of torque creates immediate, neck-snapping acceleration on the street or highway. Despite the car’s curb weight of 2,450 kilograms, of which the batteries are a large contributor, the handling adjusts with that familiar and reassuring Mercedes-Benz grounded feel. All totaled, the car heads into the market with the expected blend of smooth power and sporty balance.

Official charging-time numbers are 20 minutes on DC to go from 10 per cent to 80 per cent, and 2.75 hours on AC to go from 10 percent to 100 percent. In pure electric drive mode, the car will manage 66 km at up to 140 km/hr, but, with gas and electricity working together, the wagon will do MPGs of 52 street, 64 highway, and 56 combined.

Is it worth it?

Its uniqueness is what makes the E-53 Hybrid Wagon desirable. In other words, if you’re looking for the very best wagon in the Mercedes-Benz family—or in the entire German luxury class—this is the model for you, as it remains the only one of its kind.

Mercedes calls its 2026 E 450 4MATIC an “All-Terrain Wagon,” but it’s clearly an SUV. Audi offers the 2026 A6 allroad and 2026 RS 6 Avant performance among its wagon-ish efforts, but they’re extended crossovers. You will find other European station wagons up north in Sweden with the V60 and V90 Cross Country models, but neither of those conservative Volvos carry the aggression of a Mercedes-AMG.

Sure, owning this impressive outlier in the Mercedes-Benz family will provide a little cache. Combine that novelty with the opportunity to drive the best-performing production wagon on the market by default, and there’s proper value here as you drive to the German equivalent of Wally World.

Specifications

Vehicle type: hybrid wagon

In production since: new for 2026

Power train: AMG-enhanced 3.0 litre turbocharged inline-six turbo with P2 Plug-In Hybrid System and a 161 hp permanently synchronous electric motor

Battery: lithium-Ion

Performance: top speed of 249 km/hr, or 280 km/hr with optional AMG Dynamic Plus Package (both electronically limited).

Zero to 100 km/hr: 3.8 seconds