Mercedes appears to have cracked the electric car conundrum

Telegraph

03-04-2025

The CLA was traduced as 'the Mercedes for poor people' at its launch in 2013, but this new fourth-generation model is the vanguard of the company's electric vehicle (EV) push. Such is the pace of change at the company, which previously would only introduce cutting-edge technology in its S-Class flagship saloon, which would then trickle down to lesser models.
Ola Kallenius, the chairman of Mercedes-Benz, has never wavered from his declared intent to place the firm's three-pointed star symbol at the heart of premium EV peregrination, but even Mercedes can't avoid the tide and times, which have seen a softening of zero emissions timetables in the face of public refusal to take the plunge.
The CLA saloon, while initially introducing unheard-of levels of efficiency and range to the EV market, will also be available in petrol/electric hybrid form with a 48-volt system.
Inspired by a record-breaker
It's heavily inspired by the Vision EQXX experimental car of 2023, which achieved an unprecedented 621 miles (1,000km) on a single charge of its 100kWh lithium-ion battery.
The CLA, which is likely to cost from about £50,000, has an 85kWh useable lithium-ion battery using low-cobalt NMC chemistry, and like the EQXX, it has Onsemi-type silicon carbide chemistry for the anode, in the interests of increased efficiency.
With an 800-volt operating system, fast charging speeds are up to 320kW DC (assuming you can find a unit delivering that amount of energy). If you can, a 10-minute charge will deliver 202 miles of range.
In front-wheel-drive 268bhp/247lb ft form, the base CLA is capable of a 492-mile range, a top speed of 130mph and 0-62mph in 6.7sec. With a two-speed transmission, it joins cars such as the Porsche Taycan and Audi e-tron GT, which have such two-speed gearboxes to allow the electric motor to spin at its most efficient speeds, which gives a higher top speed and more efficient use of the battery energy.
'Efficiency is the challenge,' says Markus Schäfer, Mercedes's chief technical officer and board member. 'In range, in faster charging and better efficiency – although lower energy prices would help,' he adds.
Exemplary efficiency
The quoted efficiency of the CLA in 250+ front-drive form is 5.09 miles per kWh, which is not just class-leading but something of a record for a standard passenger car of this size.
'It is a one-litre car [one litre of fuel per 100km, or 282.5mpg] for the electric vehicle age,' says Schäfer, claiming that taking the equivalent calorific value of petrol and electricity means this EV, if powered instead by an internal combustion engine, would be capable of achieving about 282mpg.
The base CLA, with its steel-and-aluminium body, weighs just over two tons (2,055kg) but has a carbon footprint about 40 per cent less in value terms over the outgoing non-EV CLA model.
Quite apart from the question of why Mercedes launched the CLA in Rome, there's also a more pertinent question about why burden your entry-level model with a cherry-picked level of technology that might make the less-than-well-heeled buyer blink?
Moving back upmarket
The answer is that Mercedes has been heading back upmarket for some years after its questionable dalliance with cheap(er) hatchbacks and Renault-derived drivetrains – there is no hatchback version of this car, although there will be a 4x4, a shooting brake and a couple of SUVs to replace the GLC and GLB. No prices are confirmed, but we estimate the CLA will start at about £50,000.
Some pundits think this move is a sensible response to surging premium brand launches out of China and increasing competition from Audi and BMW. Others think that Mercedes has overinvested in production facilities to produce its more downmarket models, which might represent a cost issue in the future.
But from now on the new CLA is as cheap as a Mercedes gets, with its starry grille and front and rear lights.
Nifty voice control
Inside, there's a new look, too, although the star theme continues with a 'star avatar', which some users might find as irritating as the Microsoft paper clip. The new Super Screen is a full-width glass facia consisting of the instrument binnacle, centre touchscreen and a passenger touchscreen on which video games can be played (but not by the driver).
There's a single new computer system controlling all the functions in the car, which stores information on the cloud and is capable of faster processing than has been previously achieved. The new operating system (MBOS) has been developed by Mercedes with the co-operation of Qualcomm and Nvidia, enhanced with artificial intelligence using Chat GPT to answer questions and converse in a limited way with passengers. Navigation is via Google Maps, while Google also provides the information back-up for the car's AI.
If the idea of chatting with your car seems like a poor substitute for a life, chief software officer Magnus Östberg points out that the main benefit is that you no longer have to ask the system to do things in a pernickety and pedantic way merely to access simple functions. The AI will learn your regular habits and likes, but will also be able to discern what you want when you simply tell it that you are cold (then it will turn up the heating).
'It's our mission to simplify,' says Östberg, 'so the interaction will be like a butler; you won't have to speak to it with a load of special words and phrases.'
Clearly this man has never read an exchange between PG Wodehouse's Bertie Wooster and his manservant, Jeeves…
Under the skin
Christoph Starzynski, the company's vice-president of EV architecture, admits that the CLA's platform chassis, being suitable for both pure electric and petrol electric hybrid drivetrains, might 'have a little bit more weight [than a purely combustion platform], but not much'.
The transverse engine configuration means the electric and petrol drivetrains can be pretty much dropped into the same space, although this would not be a suitable solution for the longitudinal layouts of the larger, more expensive Mercedes models.
Self-driving capability
He says that while the CLA's autonomous driving system is capable of SAE Level 2 ++, using just a camera and radar-based technology, that arrangement wouldn't be suitable for Level 3. (Level 2 provides partial automation with the driver supervising the system, while Level 3 allows the vehicle to handle all driving tasks but requires the driver to be ready to intervene when requested.)
Mercedes is one of the few car makers with certification for Level 3 self-driving (although not in Europe), but Starzynski says that 'Level 3 is the Rubicon you can't cross without LiDAR' (light detection and ranging, which uses lasers instead of the less sophisticated radio waves of radar).
The Telegraph verdict
There's not much that's spanking new in the CLA, but its significance is in the combination of expensive and complex state-of-the-art technology brought to the bottom of the Mercedes food chain. Starzynski says the way in which Mercedes combines the latest technology with refinement and luxury marks its difference. 'A lot of car makers can make sparkling wine,' he says, 'but not Champagne…'
The car's styling divided opinion. I think that, like Starzynski's claims, the looks will require further consideration outside of the media frenzy of the Rome launch.
As ever, the proof of the pudding is in the driving – watch out for a full review from the launch this summer.