Mercedes-Benz’s sleek CLA goes all-electric for the first time, and in CLA250 guise it could prove to be the best version of the new CLA yet.
When the first Mercedes-Benz CLA arrived in Singapore over a decade ago, it immediately proved to be a huge hit. The appeal of the Three-Pointed Star on a compact sedan was hard to resist for many, but crucially, its attractive price point opened up the brand to a whole new segment of younger customers who were attracted to its style and affordability.
The CLA has now entered its third generation, and Mercedes-Benz has not rested on its laurels. In keeping up with industry developments, the new CLA now comes in fully electrified form for the first time (though regular petrol-hybrid versions remain available too).
But how does a CLA EV change the formula for one of Mercedes-Benz’s most popular models?
Love It or Hate It
For starters, the styling of the new CLA is polarising, to say the least. While it retains the svelte teardrop outline of its predecessors, some of the details do ignite debate among fans and detractors alike.
The star-studded grille is either opulent or ostentatious, depending on who you ask. There are more stars embedded in the headlights, but perhaps the most controversial feature might be the thin light bar strip that runs between them. It does give the car a distinctive-looking face, but there are opinions that say it looks ill-suited to a car with such an elegant shape.
The rear is relatively more toned down in contrast, but there’s still no escaping the starry theme, with the shape featuring prominently on the main taillight unit as well as on the light bar that stretches across the boot lid. Again, opinion on this is divided, but it can seem like overkill to some.
Big Screen Domination
The razzle-dazzle continues inside, with the interior dominated by screens galore. The 10.25-inch driver instrument cluster is complemented by two 14-inch screens, including the central infotainment touchscreen and another one for the passenger. It’s all part of the Mercedes-Benz Superscreen package that is standard on the CLA250 model in Singapore.
The design is essentially identical across all of the compact cars running on the new Mercedes-Benz Modular Architecture (MMA) platform, including the recently-launched GLB and the upcoming GLA. So hopping from one to another (as I did) will see you interacting with the same interface with virtually no difference.
That includes the new MB.OS software that is much quicker and intuitive to operate than previous Mercedes-Benz systems. It also comes with a bevy of customisation options, allowing you to set your preferred ambient lighting colour, screen theme design and even the synthetic noise that you want, if that’s your sort of thing.
Thankfully though, it’s not all screen-oriented, as there are still a handful of physical buttons on the centre console for various functions, which further adds to the user-friendliness of the cabin. Some of the materials though, like the plastics around the cupholder area and air con vents, do feel a bit low-rent for a car of this stature.
Practicality-wise, the nature of the CLA’s design means that it has never been the most spacious sedan out there. Three adults can just about fit in the back, but headroom for taller folks especially will be inevitably compromised by the sloping roofline.
The large glass roof does aid with a sense of airiness, but it also tends to heat up the cabin on days when the sun is out in full force.
Boot space stands at a decent 405 litres, which, while not exactly class-leading, is more than adequate for the average city dweller to accommodate their daily needs. Being electric though means that the car also comes with the benefit of a frunk, which in the CLA’s case amounts to an additional 101 litres of carrying capacity, something that can come in extremely handy in many situations.
A Slick Drive
In CLA250 guise, you get a single electric motor powering the rear wheels, sent via a two-speed gearbox (a la Porsche Taycan). Output is rated at 268bhp and 335Nm of torque, which sounds pretty impressive, though 0-100km/h arrives in 6.7 seconds, a decent enough time without being overly spectacular.
It seems though that Mercedes-Benz has opted to tune this drivetrain to prioritise smoothness, and as a result the CLA250 picks up speed with a sense of effective linearity. There’s no sense of that hyper urgency that characterises many electric cars, but instead the CLA prefers to take you there with minimal fuss and drama.
There’s definitely enough in it to keep up with traffic, but at the same time it’s not going to pin you back in your seat when you floor the accelerator.
There’s more to like when you show the car some bends though, with the CLA impressing with its slick fluidity through the corners. The excellent chassis control gives the CLA some delightful handling manners, and piloting the car through a nice winding road becomes a truly enjoyable experience.
It’s not perfect though, as the steering could do with a bit more feel and feedback, while the car does demonstrate a touch of understeer when pushed hard despite being rear-wheel-driven, which is an odd sensation to say the least. But on the whole the CLA makes for quite a delightful drive for the keen enthusiast.
Ride quality is average, being decent enough to cope with most surfaces, but still retaining a sense of firmness without being unduly harsh. At the very least, the CLA would be able to take on a long journey without its occupants complaining of aches and pains at the end of the trip.
Going The Distance
It would have no problems completing the journey too, as one of the most impressive aspects of this new electric CLA is its efficiency. Mercedes-Benz quotes a claimed range of 808km on a full charge, which seems incredible to say the least, and would put it on par with some of the best hybrid cars out there.
In reality though, most drivers would probably see somewhere around 700km or so in the real world, which is still an amazing figure that would outclass most other EVs that you could care to name. I covered 440km over a three day test drive, and the computer stated that I still have nearly 300km of range left on a 36 per cent battery, so it is eminently realistically achievable.
A lot of it could obviously be down to the sleek aerodynamic shape of the CLA, but there is also a lot of engineering magic under the skin. The two-speed gearbox, for instance, optimises efficiency at highway cruising speeds, while small design details like the flush door handles and slim door mirrors help to reduce the car’s overall drag coefficient.
As a result, Mercedes-Benz claims an energy consumption figure of 6.5km/kWh for the CLA250, a figure I easily beat over my test drive with a final tally of 8.2km/kWh. So, theoretically speaking, this could be an EV that you can realistically drive from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur and back without needing a recharge, provided you go easy on the throttle of course.
At What Cost Though?
For all that engineering brilliance, the CLA does come with a fairly hefty price, $320,888 with COE to be exact for the CLA250 as tested here. That could be a tough pill to swallow, especially for those who have been accustomed to the CLA being the affordable and achievable Mercedes-Benz sedan for entry-level customers.
Of course, much of the blame can be placed on the exorbitant COE and taxes imposed on the car, but the good news is that the lesser-powered CLA200 Electric is significantly cheaper, though you lose out on power as well as quite a few niceties like the Superscreen setup, along with a smaller battery which means you’ll probably won’t get as much range at the CLA250.
There are also the regular petrol-hybrid CLA models if you truly want to belong to the old school, but by all accounts they feel like a compromised product given that they are built on an EV-optimised platform. As such, it feels like the CLA250 Electric is the best iteration of this new CLA for now, even though you’ll have to pay a high price for it.
Technical Specifications
Mercedes-Benz CLA250+ AMG Line Sport Electric
Powertrain: Single Electric Motor, Rear Wheel Drive
Power: 200 kW (268bhp)
Torque: 335 Nm
Gearbox: 2-speed (A)
0-100km/h: 6.7 Seconds
Top Speed: 210 km/h
Battery Capacity: 85 kWh
Drive Range: 808 km (claimed)
Energy Consumption: 6.5km/kWh (claimed)
Price: S$320,888 with COE (accurate at the time of this article)
Photo Credits: Sean Loo (@auto.driven)
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