Autotrader | Mercedes CLA Hybrid Review: Better or WORSE Than The EV?
Earlier this year, we tested the fully electric Mercedes-Benz CLA and it was brilliant. Smooth, refined, intelligent, and it delivered 500 m on a single charge. Today, we are testing this, the hybrid CLA. Question is, does the addition of an internal combustion engine and a fuel tank improve the recipe or make it worse? Today I’m in the Austrian Alps and during this drive we’ll be looking at comfort, performance, and whether the CLA hybrid makes as big of an impact as the EV. That’s coming right up. First of all, let’s talk about the price. There’s a general perception that electric cars are way more expensive than their petrol counterparts, but that’s not really the case here. Okay, fair enough. The entry-level CLA hybrid starts at around £385,000, but this the CLA220 is £435,000, whereas the electric version is only £45,000. So really, there’s only a couple of,000 in it. There’s not much between the EV and hybrid in the looks department either. Both cars have a distinctive light bar across the front, the same funky headlights with a three-pointed star design, and a similar grill. Although because it needs engine cooling, this hybrid doesn’t have lightup stars. In profile, it’s almost identical with a sloping roof line at the rear, some new wheel designs, and of course, pop out door handles to increase aero efficiency by 0.00007%. Even boot space is unexpectedly the same. Still 405 L despite not using a huge battery. Although it’s still slightly awkward to use the folding rear seats, which only drop down if you access them from the passenger compartment. There is one key difference in terms of practicality with the EV versus the hybrid. Remember, the EV had a front boot with 100 L of storage. This does not. There is no front trunk in this car, just an engine. But the hybrid does of course have some advantages and of course disadvantages, but we’ll come to those in a minute. [Music] Okay, let’s talk about that engine. It’s a new 1.5 L 4-cylinder turbocharged unit. And it doesn’t work alone. It actually works in conjunction with a 1.3 kWh battery pack and an electric motor incorporated into a brand new transmission. So, what we have here is a full hybrid. The motor, which adds 30 horsepower, lives at the top of the gearbox, which uses two clutches for shifting between gears. But there’s also a third clutch that allows the engine to disconnect from the drive shaft, allowing the car to drive exclusively using the electric motor for short periods when you’re gentle on the accelerator. As I said, the electric motor always makes a maximum of 30 horsepower, but the amount of total power your CLA hybrid will make depends on which version you go for. The entry- level CLA 180 will make 136 horsepower. The CLA 200 makes 163 horsepower. And the version that I’m in today, the CLA 220 Formatic, makes 190 horsepower. And that power is not especially impressive compared to the EV version at least. That car, the CLA 250, makes a useful 272 horsepower and felt quick. This hybrid doesn’t. The hybrid definitely feels a bit sluggish in comparison. The EV will do n to 62 in just over 6 and a half seconds, but most of the hybrids need between 7 and 8 seconds to do naugh to 62. To be fair, this CLA 224matic will do it in just over 7 seconds, but it just doesn’t feel as responsive as the EV. The issue is that this car is designed to prioritize efficiency over everything else, especially in eco mode and comfort mode. So when you accelerate, most of the work is being done by the electric motor to start with until the car eventually realizes, oh, you might want to accelerate a bit more, at which point the engine revs up, the gearbox kicks down, and then you get full power and torque. But the problem is how long it takes. I’ve got a hair pin coming up right here. So I’ll turn in, the car will not realize I’m in a hairpin, but then I’ll accelerate. And it takes a good two, three seconds before the gearbox gets you into the right power band before you can accelerate out. It’s It’s about as unresponsive as hotel Wi-Fi, this gearbox. I’m not enjoying it. I can’t lie. Oh, the other thing as well is the way that it sounds. It kind of sounds like a a CVT gearbox, and that is not a compliment. So, it does a really good impression of a haird dryer, but there must be plenty of positives, right? Well, yeah, especially when the car isn’t moving. I’ll put my cards on the table. I really like the interior of the new CLA. I said it in my review of the electric version, and I’m saying it again here. This is a lovely place to sit. The seats are fantastic. The highlight for me are the headrests because they move forward and backward to adjust your head position. Such a clever design. Um, but I love that. Really, really nice. We’ve also got red seat belts, which look quite fetching if you ask me. The seats themselves are a nice design, comfortable and supportive. And in terms of material in a car can certainly add to the aesthetic appeal and comfort of the vehicle. Yeah, I agree. Mercedes Mercedes. Hey, Mercedes, shut up. It’s also got the voice assistant, which does get annoying if you say the M word. Um, but yeah, as I was saying, material quality is actually okay. When you sit here, you don’t feel like they’ve cut too many corners in this car. There’s a a bit of leather, a bit of plastic. This trim in the center looks good. I’ve said before it’s a bit reflective and a bit shiny, especially in bright sunlit conditions, but on the whole, yeah, pleasant place to hang out. In terms of practicality, not bad either. You got two cup holders in the center. These are adjustable. So, if you press these buttons, these little fins pop open so you can use larger or smaller cups and the whole thing can be removed if you want a big large storage area in the center. We’ve also got storage down here in the middle. That’s a decent size. We’ve got a wireless phone charger and some storage in the center. Uh, which is large enough probably for a purse or a handbag or a manbag perhaps. And then the glove box. Yeah, not particularly massive, but adequate I would say. In terms of technology, really, really positive story in this car. So, we got three different screens. Well, two with the option of a third. The driver display is digital. Looks fantastic. Nice and clear. The central infotainment screen, again, same story. large, clear, bright, and responsive. And then you’ve also got the option of a passenger display on which your passenger can enjoy things like movies and games. Really, really good stuff. As for the back, well, it isn’t the most spacious, but there’s enough room for a couple of sixt passengers who won’t mind spending plenty of time back there. In all, it’s a lovely interior. And on that subject, if your car’s interior is looking a little drab, if your satnav is as unresponsive as a toddler being asked to put their shoes on, or the inside is giving o the gym bag, then maybe it’s time for a change. Maybe it’s time for Autotrader. Now, let’s get back to driving and make sense of this hybrid system. In comfort mode, the CLA is actually quite nice to drive. The suspension is quite plush. There are a few potholes around here, a few manhole covers especially. And it seems to be kind of ironing out those bumps without too much drama. And it’s quiet as well. Obviously, not as quiet as the electric version, but generally pretty pleasant car to drive. One thing I really want to try is the adaptive cruise control. So, if I push this button on the steering wheel forward, it will lock in at the speed I’m doing right now, accelerating and braking depending on what it encounters outside. And also, it will steer for me as well. Let’s see what it does here. Yeah, it’s it’s going around the corner by itself. The system is a lot better on the motorway where there aren’t as many twists and turns. The idea is that you can go on a long journey without having to think too much about inputting those small little left and right corrections as you drive along the road. It takes the stress off. And while it’s not as good as Tesla’s autopilot system, yeah, it’s a nice addition. The other thing I want to test while I’m driving around town is the cameras in the car. Do you remember I told you this car had YouTube? So if my cameraman plays a YouTube video right now, the cameras in the car will look at my face to make sure I’m not looking across to that third screen. If it detects me trying to watch YouTube or any other media that’s inappropriate while I’m driving, it will actually lock out the screen to stop me sneaking a little peek. The next thing I want to try out is the maneuverability of this car. So, I’ll just pull in here and I’ll see what kind of turning circle we’ve got. Yeah. I mean, it’s not the most amazing, but it’s not bad. The one thing I really want to show you, though, is the reversing camera. So, if I whack it into reverse, look at this. On the screen, you can actually see a 3D view of the car. And that gives you a really good idea of where the car is in relation to the world around you. And it just makes maneuvering really, really simple. And look at that. The uh brake lights light up when you press the brake pedal. That is very, very cool. Nice and easy to maneuver. I like that. So, that bit’s positive. And naturally, the hybrid version should also deliver good news for those who aren’t ready or willing to accept the electric car. And it should have an advantage over the EV in cold, often remote, often hilly conditions like these. I drove the EV version back in the summer and that car had a range of actually around 500 miles, 490 something to be precise. Although I think it would be significantly less in conditions like these. This is a very very cold day. It’s – 4 1/2° so I think an EV would struggle to get anywhere near its top range. Having said that, don’t expect masses amount of range from the hybrid. When I jumped into this car to start with, it had a full tank and it was only reading around 390 something miles. I also made a point of looking in other people’s cars and I saw a car with about 95% in the fuel tank and it was only reading just over 250 mi. So, even though you would expect this car to have better range than the EV, I don’t think it’s quite as clearcut as a lot of people might imagine. The good news though is that according to WLTP figures, the hybrid should get around 50 to 58 mp gallon. And that in my hands was totally achievable. Although it can drop as low as 23 mp gallon if driven hard and depending on what drive mode you use. So you get a slightly different driving experience depending on what driving mode you happen to be in. Comfort and eco are obviously the most chilled out drive modes. Those modes are ideal for driving around town. And actually in those modes, the car will do something called sailing. In other words, when you’re cruising along, it will disconnect the clutch from the engine and just use the electric motor to propel you along without using too much energy at up to 62 mph. If you want to go a bit quicker, you can. But if you’re going to avoid that laggy feeling of the car relying so heavily on that 30 horsepower motor and the resulting hesitation of the engine being disconnected so often, you’ll need to use sport mode in which the engine is never disconnected. Unfortunately though, the CLA’s drivetrain never feels fun or sounds fun, which is a shame because the rest of the driving experience is quite decent. The steering is pretty good. It’s got a decent weight to it. It turns in quite accurately, but again, the issue comes on the other side when you accelerate out and there’s that little delay between pushing the pedal and then getting a response from the car. Now, I know what you’re thinking. If the gearbox is being sluggish, then why don’t you shift manually? Well, couple of issues with that. Number one, it doesn’t have flappy paddles behind the steering wheel. There’s nothing there. They do give you a way to manually select a gear, but you’ve got to use the drive selector by pushing it forward to shift up or backward to shift down. And it’s it’s quite a strange experience. And that’s a shame because underneath all of that is a good chassis. I had the pleasure of driving on a closed mountain road with a few switchbacks and in low grip situations in sport mode where the car distributes its torque 50/50 front to rear and with the traction off, it even drifts. But on the road, there’s more frustration than fun. Look, I get the argument that the CLA hybrid prioritizes efficiency over sportiness, particularly in eco and comfort mode. But the problem is when it’s so sluggish, you end up accelerating harder and demanding more of the car and using more energy than you would if it felt more responsive, which I think probably puts you in a position where you end up using more fuel than you would if the car just did what you wanted in the first place. So, I’ll give you my verdict on the CLA Hybrid. Good car on the whole, very badly affected by a quite mediocre transmission that’s lazy and noisy. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the MercedesBenz CLA hybrid. It’s appreciated that you find the overall vehicle appealing. However, you have concerns about the transmission. Each driver can experience different performance aspects based on personal driving style and preferences. If the transmission issues persist, consulting a MercedesBenz dealership might offer solutions or insights tailored to improve your driving experience. Hey, it’s not just me saying it, bro. It’s the car saying it. Sort the gearbox and uh then we can talk. Like I was saying, CLA Hybrid, here’s my verdict. Good car, badly affected by a mediocre transmission, which is a little too sluggish for my liking, a little too noisy for my liking, and it robs the car of the fun that you expect it to provide. If you’re the kind of person that doesn’t drive for pleasure, and you just want to get from A to B and look good while you’re doing it, then this is absolutely fine. But to me, the electric version of the CLA is far superior. [Music] [Music] Oh yeah.
We put the new Mercedes CLA Hybrid to the test high in the Austrian mountains, in deep snow and sub-zero temperatures. Earlier this year we drove the fully electric CLA and came away seriously impressed, so the big question now is simple: is the hybrid version still relevant… or is the EV just the better car?
This review breaks down real-world efficiency, refinement, performance and winter usability. We look at how the hybrid handles the cold, how its drivetrain compares to the EV’s, and whether this version makes more sense for buyers who aren’t quite ready to go fully electric.
Is the hybrid the smarter choice? Or has the EV already won? The answer may surprise you.
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Video chapters:
0:00 Petrol vs electric CLA
1:51 The hybrid engine
3:19 Performance
4:57 Interior design
7:29 Handling
9:50 Ranges and efficiency
10:57 Drive modes
11:50 Gearbox
13:12 Verdict
