Mercedes-Benz CLA Electric

The new Mercedes-Benz CLA is the first product built on their new ‘MMA’ (Mercedes Modular Architecture) platform It has a big role to play as it lays the foundation for next-generation Mercedes EVs. From the looks of it, Mercedes’ idea of an electric future is a literal computer on wheels that refuses to compromise on feel-good and everyday usability. 

If you’ve been eyeing a luxury sedan (and not just an electric vehicle), the CLA deserves your attention. Here’s why.

Design

The all-new CLA is a genuinely striking car. It sits in this beautiful middle ground between a sportscar and a sedan. With a low stance, wide haunches and large wheels, it almost always gets a second glance from on-lookers. I don’t really blame them. 

Viewed from the front, the 142 stars on the grille stand out. This reminds me of designer bags (think Louis Vuitton or Gucci) where logos are plastered across their bags/shirts as a (not so) subtle reminder of the brand. What’s more, these lights are illuminated and animated, which is bound to start conversations. The multibeam LED headlamps get a 3-pointed star of their own for good measure. This might seem a little overdone for those who prefer subtler things, but I love the fact that it makes a statement. 

Run around to the side and you’ll notice that this supposedly ‘compact’ sedan is a full 4.7-metres in length. For reference, that’s quite close to the C-Class. It’s here where my favourite elements of the design reside: the flush-fitting door handles (motorised, no less) and the frameless doors scream ‘sportscar’. 

The 18-inch alloy wheels fill up the wheel wells nicely. There are aero covers that improve aerodynamic efficiency. That said, the purist in me still yearns for a clean 5-spoke wheel design like older AMG-line Mercs! 

Like the front, the rear gets a full-width light too. Surprise, surprise, some more three-pointed stars in the lamps here. These too are animated which look super cool in the dark.

The CLA electric is available in five exterior colours:

• Polar White

• Cosmic Black

• Clear Blue

• Alpine Grey (Manufaktur exclusive)

• Patagonia Red (Manufaktur exclusive)

The two ‘Manufaktur’ shades deserve a special mention. These are exclusive paint options usually reserved for far more expensive cars such as the S-Class or the GLS. The CLA’s flowing design demands a bright colour, which is why I’d almost always pick the red or the blue. 

Design & Quality

Step inside the CLA 250+ and the AMG Line interior makes a solid first impression. Clean horizontal lines, top-shelf materials and a healthy dose of minimalism ties this cabin together. 

The co-driver is treated to a star pattern trim on the dashboard (backlit by ambient lighting!), flanked by turbine-inspired air vents. The AMG steering wheel, aluminum pedals, and light brushed aluminum trim elements put together makes the cabin feel sporty without shouting. There’s new switchgear here: new seat adjustment buttons designed to look like jewellery, and new power window switches for example. Mercedes purists might raise an eyebrow, but won’t deny that the evolution is very chic. 

There’s some borderline unhealthy obsession(s) visible too. For example, the central touchscreen and instrument cluster sit on a panel that’s angled at precisely six degrees. Mercedes ran countless simulations to check what could cut glare during the day and reflection on the windshield during night time. 

Time and effort went into optimising the cupholders, apparently. Here too, Mercedes ran simulations to ensure any fizzy drink spilling inside the cupholders wouldn’t affect key electric components. 

Mercedes also claims to have taken an year to develop the door centres, even building a custom stamp tool to achieve a wrinkle-free finish. For something that’d go unnoticed quite easily, that’s some commitment right there. 

Practically everything you touch is wrapped in a soft-touch material. It’s only when you dig into the lower half of the cabin would you find plastics that are better suited to cheaper cars. Not a dealbreaker, but an avoidable measure for sure. 

You will most likely raise an eyebrow for the missing sunshade for the panoramic glass roof. The claim is that the glass is coated with a 250-nanometre film that filters UV rays and insulates against heat and cold. While Bangalore was nice and pleasant when we drove the new CLA, Mercedes says it has been tested in Dubai’s 50°C+ heat.

Front Seats

The front seats aren’t particularly wide, but are accommodating of large frames. Both seats can be adjusted electrically and get three memory settings each. Like most modern Mercs, you can simply tell the car your height and it’ll set the seat’s position (including height) for you. I found the cushioning to be just right. Whether you’re on a dreadful commute or a highway run, you should be happy here.

Do note that a front seat massage function is a paid option. The hardware exists, and the feature can be unlocked via an OTA software update. I think this feature should’ve been bundled in to begin with. 

Rear Seats

Rear seat space isn’t a strong point. A sloping roofline plus a raised floor is bound to make the experience cramped. That said, I’m pleased to report that it wasn’t as cramped as I assumed it’d be.

While the space is best suited for people below 5’8”, my 6’ tall frame could fit behind a 6’2” driver. The underthigh support and headroom is less than ideal however, and footroom isn’t particularly great either. The cabin’s sporty, dark aesthetic and the large front headrest also eat into the cabin’s sense of space. 

Don’t expect to ferry three passengers in the rear either, unless they’re supermodel levels of lean. It’s best to use the CLA as a four-seater with the central armrest down. If you intended on being chauffeur-driven, you could consider the larger, more traditional sedans such as the C-Class. 

Practicality and Charging

No real hiccups with cabin storage. A born-electric platform ensures a flat floor which opens up a lot of space under the front centre console. There’s enough storage in the four door pockets and a decently sized glovebox too. Front and rear occupants both get a pair of cupholders. 

In-cabin charging options on the CLA include six USB-C ports, all rated at 100W fast charging:

• 2 in the storage compartment under the front centre armrest (also support data transfer)

• 2 on the centre armrest

• 2 below the centre console for rear passengers

A wireless phone charger is also available. 

Features

The feature list on the CLA is expansive, but not particularly groundbreaking. Luxury car staples are all built in. The basics include:

• Passive Keyless Entry

• Dual-zone Climate Control

• Powered Front Seats With Memory

• Configurable Ambient Lighting

• Fixed Panoramic Glass Roof

However, the highlight has to be the infotainment experience. The CLA gets what Mercedes calls ‘the most intelligent system’ it has ever built. The devil is truly in the details. The car runs on ‘MB.OS’ — an operating software that’s built entirely in-house. It features four control units paired with an NVIDIA processor that’s got enough computing power to put high-end gaming PCs to shame. 

A highlight is the MBUX Virtual Assistant that uses ChatGPT, Gemini and Bing integration. It has been trained over 6 lakh audio files and is able to detect whether you’re happy, sad, or angry and can alter its responses, speed accordingly. It’s also this software plus voice recognition fluency that doesn’t let you scoff about the lack of physical buttons at times. You can practically control anything with voice, including your climate control and navigation. The good folks at Mercedes Benz tell us that the system is capable of ‘learning’ your requirements, and the experience only gets better over time. 

There’s a central ‘selfie’ camera on-board that can detect the driver. It can switch driver profiles based on who’s driving, without you having to manually change settings. Aspects such as seat position, ambient lighting preference, navigation prompts all change based on who’s behind the wheel. 

Tying this experience down is a large 14-inch central touchscreen. Crisp display, easy user interface and high legibility means this isn’t any less than a high-end iPad. There’s the MBUX Entertainment package which includes apps such as Spotify, YouTube, Zoom, MS Teams, Angry Birds, and more. So yes, you can connect a gaming controller to it and play games to kill time during charging if you so wish! 

A small but important feature hides within navigation. To begin with, the native navigation is based on GoogleMaps. This ensures high accuracy and also realtime updates such as traffic, route conditions etc. It’s particularly useful for longer trips, where the on-board navigation is able to tell you real-time charger availability, live charging costs, and state of charge to plan the entire route. You can set a desired charge level you want to arrive at your destination with, and the system maps out your stops for you. 

On the 10.25-inch digital driver’s display, the CLA displays 3D objects in real-time. It can display cars, cyclists, pedestrians, delivery vans in real time. This is surprisingly accurate even in chaotic Indian conditions. Besides configurable themes, you can also check navigation on this screen. 

The only real miss here, I feel, is an immersive audio system. The CLA years for a proper Burmester experience, which is sadly missing. Audio quality is acceptable, but not exceptional in any manner. Speaking of sound, there’s a ‘SoundExperience’ app that offers six sound packs that contain everything from acceleration sounds to what the car sounds like when you plug in a charger. They’re called:

• FractalFusion

• GranularFuzz

• RoaringPulse

• Serene Breeze

• Silver Waves

• Vivid Flux

I enjoyed the ‘Roaring Pulse’, as it’s the closest you can get to the thrum on an actual AMG V8. 

Safety is well thought of. The list is long which includes:

• 8 Airbags (including a centre airbag between the front seats)

• Mid-Range Radar

• Front and Rear Parking Sensors (12 Ultrasonic sensors)

• 4 Corner Radars

• 4 surround-view cameras + 2 side cameras

Level 2 ADAS is also available with features such as lane keeping, blind spot assist, adaptive cruise control, emergency stop, and safe exit warning. You can pay additionally for L2+ ADAS that unlocks steering assist. 

The system is fairly intuitive to use even in Indian conditions. Mercedes points out that the ADAS system was trained on yottabytes of data (1 yottabyte = 1 trillion TB) and can calculate the correct course of action for billions of scenarios. We’d love to test in chaotic traffic to be doubly sure. 

The CLA's boot offers 405 litres of capacity. The rear seats split 40:20:40 and fold flat, adding more versatility to the package. Do note that the spare tyre will be placed here and take up the entirety of the boot. You’d have to store the spare tyre elsewhere in case you intend on using the boot. 

There’s an interesting story under the bonnet, though. The CLA is the first Mercedes-Benz in 90 years to feature a frunk. You get 101-litres of space here, which is enough for a cabin-sized trolley bag. 

Drive

The CLA 250+ has a single electric motor on the rear axle that produces 260PS of power and 335Nm of torque. The unique 2-speed gearbox has two ratios: a short 11:1 first gear that gets you instant acceleration, and a taller 5:1 second gear that’s built for efficiency. When the car switches between the two ratios is impossible to tell. 

Stomp on the accelerator pedal and the CLA almost nonchalantly rockets to 100kmph in just 6.7 seconds. Keep the throttle pinned and you could breach twice that in no time. Mercedes Benz claims a top speed of 210kmph. 

Like most modern electrics, driving the CLA doesn’t have a learning curve of any sort. The throttle response is intuitive, and never takes you by surprise. I particularly liked the calibration of the brake energy generation. You select levels using the gear selector. I preferred to set it to ‘Intelligent Recuperation’ where it relies on the vehicle's ADAS to figure out the deceleration required when you lift off the throttle. You can practically drive the CLA with a single pedal. 

The highlight of course, is the claimed range. The WLTP cycle mimics real world conditions, and 792km isn’t actually that farfetched. In Indian conditions and heat, it’s very reasonable to expect the CLA to return anywhere between 600-700km of range on a single charge. Mercedes claims a high 93% efficiency for the drivetrain. 

Charging

On the charging front, the CLA’s 800V platform supports up to 320kW DC fast charging. In real terms, that means 285-325km of range added in 10 minutes, and a 10-80% DC charge completed in just 22 minutes. Even if you find a stable 120kW DC charger, you could add some serious range during a short coffee break. 

A full AC charge on an 11kW three-phase wallbox takes 9 hours. Mercedes-Benz India has also partnered with multiple Charge Point Operators (CPOs) to enable charge station status monitoring, location guidance and payments through the brand’s own app. This includes making payments post charging without having to maintain a wallet balance (any subsequent charge-ups will require previous dues to be cleared first).

Ride quality

While Mercedes refuses to share a number, they point out that the ride height of the CLA has been raised for Indian roads. For most city drives, you’re unlikely to have any issues. Even potholes and speedbreakers are dealt with easily without the belly scraping. However, over large bumps and deeper ruts, it’s best to be careful. 

Ride quality is surprisingly comfortable. Entry-level offerings from Mercedes have often suffered from a stiff ride that would prevent them from bottoming out. This one manages to deliver comfort in equal measure. Surface imperfections barely make their way to the cabin, and there’s no unnecessary body movement either. It remains expectedly rock steady at highway speeds. 

Handling

A short first drive suggests that the steering is quick, light and predictable. It takes no time for you to get used to the CLA’s size and driving even in congested spaces is fairly easy. At highway speeds, the steering weighs up and gives ample confidence to the driver.

A low centre of gravity and rear wheel drive means the twisties should be fun. I didn’t really get to push the CLA through corners, so I’ll reserve judgement here once I’ve had more seat time. That being said, while most EVs with a battery this big feel excessively heavy, the CLA does feel reasonably nimble and offers an experience close to that of any comparable petrol car. 

The new Mercedes-Benz CLA is ambitious and high-tech in equal measure. Their new MMA platform, 800V architecture and AI-driven computing power move goalposts ahead, and by a significant margin at that. That said, what really shines through is that the CLA is still quintessentially Mercedes at heart. It’s comfortable, plush and promises a huge real-world driving range of 700km. 

Mercedes might’ve just figured out how to blend past and present.