New Mercedes CLA 2025: massive 491-mile range for Mercedes’ new small saloon

When the new third-generation Mercedes-Benz CLA goes on sale later this year it will do so with a fully-electric model in the lineup – and one that completely rewrites the rule book for driving range in its class.

The headline figure is 491 miles on the WLTP cycle, a number that isn’t just tens but hundreds of miles longer than some competitors. While that comes courtesy of an 85kWh battery, which is also pretty chunky for the class, Mercedes has also paid plenty of attention to both aerodynamics and the car’s mechanical and electrical efficiency, for some seriously impressive on-paper numbers.

New to Mercedes (though not to the industry) is 800-volt architecture, which brings efficiency and packaging benefits and allows for very fast 320kW charging, if you can find a public rapid charger capable of delivering that kind of performance. If you do, you can theoretically top up 200 miles of range in ten minutes.

Next up is the car’s shape. It resembles the outgoing CLA (we’ll get onto styling in a second) and like that car, it’s very aerodynamically efficient – even more so in fact, with a drag coefficient of 0.21, to its predecessor’s 0.23. It’s slipperier than the latest Tesla Model 3’s 0.219, too.

All this means that despite weighing in at an SUV-like 2,050kg (a fair old chunk given the very heaviest versions of its plug-in hybrid predecessor were under 1,700kg, and the lightest CLAs around 1,500kg) Mercedes claims efficiency of between 4.4 miles per kilowatt-hour and 5.1mi/kWh. It remains to be seen how close the CLA will get to this in the real world, but anything above 4mi/kWh in day-to-day use will be good going and preserve a good chunk of the car’s claimed range.

The 491-mile figure is for the first of two new electric CLAs, the CLA 250+ EQ. This powers the front wheels with a 268bhp motor, for 0-62mph in 6.7 seconds and a 130mph top speed. You’ll also be able to buy an all-wheel drive, 348bhp CLA 350 EQ, good for 0-62mph in 4.9 seconds, 130mph, and an only marginally lower 478-mile maximum. Both get a heat pump as standard equipment, while a smaller 58kWh battery (with lower range, naturally) will be available later.

And so to styling, where the CLA looks not unlike its predecessor – though the differences still aren’t hard to spot. In profile, the need to package a battery means the new car is a little taller and more slab-sided than before (it’s grown from 1,402mm tall to 1,468mm). The door handles are now pop-out items, and there’s a choice of 17 to 19-inch wheels depending on specification.

The front is distinctly Mercedes but there’s an artificial grille with an illuminated Mercedes logo and then dozens more tiny illuminated three-pointed stars. You’ll find the same motif in the headlights, while a light bar spans the two lights above the grille. There’s a similar full-width light bar at the back, albeit illuminated in notches rather than in one long strip, and again you’ll find three-pointed star details in the tail lights.

Inside, there’s now a single unbroken panel spanning the dashboard, with jet-like air vents at its extremities, and a trio of screens across it – a 10.25-inch driver display much like the current car, a central 14-inch touchscreen, and an optional 14-inch passenger touchscreen. We’ve not driven the car yet but playing with one on static display, the new more app-based system seemed relatively easy to fathom. A slightly simplified collection of haptic buttons on the steering wheel should make accessing functions easier than in the outgoing car.

As for practicality, the cabin is spacious for two in the front and marginally less so on the rear bench, while the boot is 405 litres – 10 litres bigger than the old CLA 250e plug-in hybrid, but 55 litres less than the old petrol and diesel CLAs. That is, until you factor-in the 101-litre storage space under the bonnet, as the new CLA has a ‘frunk’ in electric form, a first for the company.

You don’t get that benefit if you opt for the new hybrid CLA, as there’s still one of those in the range, and it’s most easily spotted by its proper grille. Mercedes hasn’t revealed many details of this version yet though, other than it’ll be based around a 1.5-litre petrol engine and have a 48v system. Front- and all-wheel drive versions will be offered.

Mercedes hasn’t confirmed full pricing and specification yet. We’d expect the hybrid models to start in the £35,000-£40,000 ballpark like the cars they replace, while the EV is sure to be more – potentially upwards of £45,000, like the Polestar 2 and Tesla Model 3 against which it’ll compete. Order books open in the next few months, with deliveries beginning in the third quarter of this year.