In just a few weeks I’m going to Austria to do a lot of things in the Alps with Mercedes-Benz, one of which will be a winter testing ride along in the upcoming third-generation CLA. As that car inches closer to production Mercedes has released a video featuring CEO Ola Källenius driving the new CLA around the company’s Immendingen test facility outside Stuttgart, Germany. The video and accompanying press release have given us some new details about the car, but I’m most excited about the star-shaped headlights.
When the Concept CLA debuted last September, everyone said there would be no way its three-pointed star headlights and taillights would make it to production. Ha! Ye of little faith. As the video’s host Sarah Harman reveals when she takes off a piece of camouflage, the CLA’s headlights have a prominent LED cluster shaped like Mercedes’ logo. While you can’t really tell from the photos and video, the taillights will too, and the star lights won’t just be reserved for the electric version of the CLA.
That’s right, I said electric version. The third-gen CLA rides on Mercedes’ new MMA compact car platform, which will also underpin the next-gen GLA and GLB, and it was designed as an electric-first platform in mind — that means Mercedes focused on making a fantastic EV and then adapting plug-in hybrid combustion powertrains to the platform, instead of the other way around that typically results in more compromised EVs. Both electric and PHEV versions of the CLA should look pretty much the same, other than a blocked-off grille that I hope will be illuminated like the concept. The rest of the design looks killer just like the concept, with a really sleek roofline and frameless doors.
“Even though I’m a petrolhead, I prefer the electric car,” Källenius says as he takes the electric CLA onto the test track, commenting on how smooth and quiet it is and how good the handling is and all of that typical stuff. The CLA’s electric powertrain was designed from the ground up, and it’s already been used by the record-setting EQXX prototype. It features a two-speed transmission that Kallenius says lets the car be “extremely efficient at all driving speeds,” adding that Mercedes “can perfectly calibrate how the electric motor works.” He also confirms that there will be an AMG version of the electric CLA, which I saw testing at Immendingen earlier this summer with a huge ducktail spoiler on the back.
Other features of the new CLA include a completely new software stack and infotainment system designed in-house by Mercedes, called MB OS. It will include an advanced AI voice assistant and basically any feature you can think of, Källenius says, and the CLA will also be the first production Mercedes to debut a pillar-to-pillar screen, like on the concept. The nerd in me noticed new power seat controls, which I’m excited about.
At the end of the video they plug in the CLA, and while Källenius doesn’t say exact charging speeds, he says the CLA’s “high-powered charging system” makes charging “incredibly fast, almost like fueling.” Mercedes said the Concept CLA could add 250 miles of range in 15 minutes, and that it would have a range of over 450 miles (on the European cycle), both of which the production model should achieve.
Mercedes says the new CLA will debut in 2025; my guess is at CES in January. What do you want to know about Mercedes’ next-gen compact cars and EV powertrains? I’ll find out everything I can next month.
