Mercedes CLA, what the electric saloon with over 700 km range looks and feels like

Mercedes CLA arrives in its third generation introducing numerous novelties starting from the floorpan to the choice of engines, at the moment only two electric versions with over 700 kilometres of autonomy are available. We were in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, for the first road contact of the new saloon that boasts a price list that starts at just over 56,000 euros.

With the third generation CLA, the new MMA architecture debuts, originally designed for electric cars but flexible enough to be adopted for thermal cars as well.CLA has generous dimensions with its 4,723 mm length, 1,855 mm width, 1,468 mm height and 2,790 mm wheelbase. Load capacity is 405 litres, plus 101 litres in the compartment under the bonnet.The 800 Volt electric architecture makes charging times very close to those of a traditional refuelling. Furthermore, the 800 Volt system can significantly reduce charging times in combination with the new battery generation: the CLA 250+ with EQ Technology can be recharged up to 325 kilometres in ten minutes.

What characterises this model is the high level of technology on board, where the strong point is the Mercedes-Benz operating system (Mb.Os), developed entirely in-house. As soon as you get on board, you notice the technological distance with other models from the Stuttgart manufacturer: here, in fact, it is pervasive and naturally itegic with the car, which not by chance was born digital, as a fusion of hardware and software. The car is always connected to the supercomputers of the Mercedes-Benz Intelligent Cloud, which allow continuous over-the-air updates for the main functions of the vehicle, including, for the first time, the driver assistance systems. in practice, the CLA fits into the technological paradigm of the Software defined vehicle. in this way, the car remains constantly up-to-date and in step with the times. In addition, Mercedes-Benz's new integrated virtual assistant revolutionises the relationship between vehicle and driver thanks to generative artificial intelligence: designed to be intelligent, easy to talk to and as empathetic as a friend, this assistant enables complex, multi-turn dialogues, offering a natural and personalised interaction.Based on cutting-edge technologies such as ChatGPT-4 and searches with Microsoft Bing, Mbux integrates the collective knowledge of the Internet to provide detailed and up-to-date answers.In addition, it is particularly well equipped to answer questions related to navigation: it can access information from Google Maps to indicate points of interest, provide routes and suggestions on how best to get around, making the driving experience even more intuitive.From an ergonomic point of view, the user interface is essentially based on touch controls accessible from the large display. And this also applies to the climate control: a solution that is certainly modern and also allows industrial savings, but which is not as practical, comfortable and intuitive behind the wheel as in other cases. Among other things, there is no start button as in other cars, Volvo and Smart from the Geely group (Mercedes' partner), and you have to get used to it.

Two versions are on the way, both electric and equipped with an 85.5 kWh battery to achieve a range of around 700 km. The 250+ version delivers 200 kW of power, guaranteeing a range of around 695-792 km, while the 350 dual motor, all-wheel drive version offers 260 kW, reaching 670-770 km.dynamically the car is snappy and quick, not least because the Mercedes engineers have introduced a singular two-speed gearbox to give a more enjoyable driving feel; one facilitates sprinting from a standstill, the second serves to reduce consumption and among other things can take the CLA up to a very high speed for an e-car: 210 km/h.Recharging is superfast thanks to the 800 Volt architecture, inherited from the Vision Eqxx, which allows up to 300 km of autonomy in just 10 minutes, with support for up to 320 kW. Furthermore, consumption for the 250+ in the mixed Wltp cycle is 12.5 kWh/100 km, in line with the 12.2 and 14.0 kWh/100 km declared. While in the urban cycle, the 350 4Matic's on-board computer measured 17.5 kWh/100 km, the manufacturer claims 14.7-12.5 kWh/100 km in the combined cycle. From a dynamic point of view, the Stuttgart-based company's engineers have already confirmed that, towards the end of the year, the new CLA will also be available as a hybrid with 48 Volt technology and an electric motor integrated in the transmission.