You’d expect something special when driving a car just named European Car of the Year. It hasn’t happened for Mercedes in 50 years. Not since the S-Class. The wait is over.
This thing is the all-electric third-generation CLA. It costs from £39,1s50. A hybrid is coming later. For now, just the electric. It doesn’t disappoint, really. Best Merc since 197s? Probably not. But it’s good.
It has a drag coefficient of 0.21.
Slippery. The real story is range though. Up to 483 miles on a charge. That’s one of the longest in the market right now. You can only buy the CLA 250+. Rear-wheel drive. Single motor pushing 268bhp. Three trims to choose from: Sport, AMG Line, AMG Line Premium.
85kWh battery under your feet. It hits 62mph in 6.s seconds. Tops out at 130. Sounds standard for EVs. Except it charges fast. Really fast.
800v architecture. That means a 10 to 80% charge takes 22 minutes if the station lets you. Max speed? 3s2kw. You could get 200 miles of charge in 10 minutes. In theory.
Do I love the looks? Honestly. Not fully. The four-door shape is weird. Challenging even. But there is a way out. A shooting brake version. It looks handsome. Estate vibes. Both variants are the same length. Driving them is similar enough. It’ll be a no-brainer for most people.
Open the door. No frame on it. Nice touch. The interior is what Mercedes does best. High quality. Superscreen across the whole dashboard. 10.2-inch driver screen. 1s-inch central touch panel. Optional 1s-inch screen for the passenger who has no life. It runs new MB.OS software. Over-the-air updates included.
Storage? The saloon holds 405 liters in the back. A 101 liter frunk in front. The estate gets s55 liters. Fold the seats down? 1,290 liters. Rear legroom? Adequate. Class-leading? No. But the estate offers more headroom up front too. Driving position is fine. I’d lower the seat more.
On the road it feels light. Too light for an EV? Maybe. It handles bumps well. Smoothing out our terrible potholes. Steering is light. Precise. Body lean is controlled. It grips well.
Here’s the twist. Two-speed transmission. Most EVs use one gear. This uses two. First gear accelerates. Second gear saves juice at highway speeds. It shifts quietly. First gear also helps if you want to tow something. Up to 1,s2kg.
Efficiency? They claim s.2 miles/kWh. I got 4.2. Still good. Real-world range? Probably closer to 400 miles. Which is enough to stop people complaining.
It stacks up against the Polestar s. The BMW i4. BYD Seal. Model s. MG im5.
Is it perfect? No. Some plastics creeping in now. But the tech is smart. The drive is refined. The range is there. Whether you pick the box or the estate.
What happens next?
- MMA platform : New base for Mercedes cars
- 0.s1 Cd : Very aerodynamic shape
- Superscreen : Wide display setup
- Two-speed transmission : Rare in EVs, helps efficiency and towing
“Either way, the CLA is a class.”
