The new Mercedes-Benz CLA saloon, Europe’s longest-range and most efficient electric car, has gone on sale priced from £45,615.
With deliveries to start this summer, the entry-level CLA 250+ with EQ Technology will be capable of driving up to 484 miles between charges, Mercedes claims, and will still manage some 420 miles if driven exclusively at motorway speeds.
These figures mean the CLA EQ leapfrogs all other EVs available in the UK. That includes Mercedes’s own flagship EQS 450+ saloon, which manages 481 miles per charge from a 118kWh battery.
That car costs a whopping £112,610 – some £65,000 more than the CLA EQ’s opening price. The rest of the CLA EQ's range is priced at £49,3751 for the AMG Line Edition and £51,7701 for the top-spec AMG Line Premium Edition.
The remarkable range figure is thanks to Mercedes’ efforts to minimise the CLA EQ’s energy consumption: it has a nickel-managanese-cobalt (NMC) battery of just 85kWh in capacity.
This means the CLA EQ achieves an efficiency figure north of 5.0mpkWh – which many manufacturers consider the key to taking EVs to the next level.
However, while it promises an impressive range figure, the CLA is unable to use any 400V DC charger - a common standard across the UK and Europe, meaning owners will be limited to using newer public charging stations.
PUNCHY BUT FRUGAL
The CLA EV’s impressive range figure is in no small part thanks to its aerodynamic design. Although the car is larger than its predecessor in every dimension (25mm wider, 25mm taller and 30mm longer), much work went into minimising its frontal area, and smoothing the flow of air around it.
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Is all the tech inside included in the price?, or are they hidden behind a paywall?, I agree, there's too much distraction, beginning to look like the flight deck of a jet, I'm not a fan of the rest of the interior either but that's just me, but, it's a good entry price so let's see if it replaces all those new BMW's I'm seeing on the roads just now.
On the whole a great looking car, externally at least, which is very well priced. You can understand why the BEV is the same price as ICE version when you look at the pictures of what's under the bonnet of the 2 versions, very labour intensive to install all that ICE kit.
Personnally I cannot stand all those screens, looks like Curry's during a TV sale day.
Oh and will the cheapest BEV version go sub 40k, head to head with the Model 3 whose days will surely be numbered.
I find it hard to beleive that a company that makes a car as elegant and classy as the latest S-Class, also makes some of the other cars in their range...
Why on earth did they think it would look good to have somwhere close to 150-200 Mercedes badges on the outside of the car?
Reminds me of those BMW owners that stick M Badges everywhere.
So tacky and zero class.