New Mercedes-Benz CLA review – Merc’s baby sedan gets cutting edge electric tech | Autocar India
[Music] It’s a beautiful day here in Copenhagen, which by the way has been voted one of the best cities to live in. And it’s not hard to understand why. Apart from this being an absolutely beautiful part of the world, this place is where you breathe clean air. And one of the reasons for that is cars like this, electric cars which don’t pollute. And this is the Mercedes CLA, the allect electric CLA, which from Mercedes standpoint is not just another electric car, but a showcase of the brand’s latest EV tech. And tech is what the new CLA is bristling with. It’s built on the EV focused MMA platform. It uses an 800vt architecture that supports ultra fast charging which in just 10 minutes can inject 325 km of range into its energy dense 85 kWh NMC battery pack. Another technical innovation is the two-speed gearbox paired to the in-house developed rear-mounted electric motor. This powertrain delivers an astonishingly linear and sustained power delivery and more importantly the extra gear ratio maximizes efficiency. The new CLA also debus the fourth generation of Mercedes MBUX system which is powered by an allnew in-house MBOS software. There’s no compromise on safety at all and the allnew CLA gets the next level of passive and active safety equipment. This of course is a zero emission car and the future of mobility. But Mercedes has realized that transition to complete electrification is a bit rocky and the CLA apart from being all electric will also come with a combustion engine and India is going to get both of them. The new CLA is wider, longer, and taller than its predecessor. And the wheelbase 2 is stretched by 61 mm to 2790 mm, but it still retains the signature four-door coupe silhouette. The sharknose front gets a new black panel instead of the classic chrome grill, and it’s peppered with 142 stars. Yes, 142 of them. The daytime running headlights are designed like a three-pointed Star 2 and a light band connects the headlight clusters. The rear follows the same design trend with the star- shaped taillights and a light band connecting them. Electric Merks are known for their aerodynamic shapes and the CLA2 has an ultra low drag coefficient of just.21. That’s thanks to the slippery body shape with flush door handles and arrow covers not just on the 19-in alloy wheels, but also on the bottoms of the suspension control arms. So, there you have it. A sleek and stunning design that’s bound to turn heads. There is one issue though which I think will be rectified for India and it’s this the ground clearance. In European spec it’s only 107 mm but I think for India they are definitely going to be raising it. Let’s now check out the interior. The cabin is again all new with an avantgard design that is more minimalist than before but it looks richer too with lots of glossy black surfaces. The highlight is an allnew super screen that gets a 10.25 25 in driver display, a 14-in central display, and an optional 14-in passenger display as well. The CLA 250 Plus variant I’m driving doesn’t have the optional screen as you can see, but hopefully the India version will get one. After all, we love our screens, don’t we? We love ambient lighting, too. And the CLA has 64 colors with 10 brightness levels and three brightness zones to play around with. The optional Burmeister 3D sound system with Dolby Atmos comes with 16 speakers and an 850 W amplifier. And don’t those chrome covers for the tweeters look just great? It’s a pretty practical cabin as well. You’ve got this floating console under which you’ve got this huge storage space. two USB C type ports, uh large cup holders, a storage space in here, and a nice large wireless charging pad as well. And let’s talk a little bit about the infotainment screen. Completely new. You can see that the fonts, the graphics, all new. This is part of the latest MOS system from Mercedes, the next generation uh software which they have. What I don’t quite like is that unlike on the hypers screen of the bigger electric Merc, there’s no fixed icon for the fan blower speed. So adjusting it is a distracting two-step process. But you can use voice commands to adjust the air con. And that takes me to one of the CLA’s party tricks, the AI assistant. Talking point of the new MBOS is the AI features in it. Now Mercedes pulls from various sources whether it’s chat GPT or Google. Let’s have a chat with my new friend. Hey Mercedes. Yes. What is the weather like in Copenhagen today? Today it will be rainy in Copenhagen with temperatures between 14 and 20° C. Thank you. It goes without saying. Well, let’s try another question. Hey, Mercedes. Of course. What would you like to know about? Tell me a bit about Autoc Car India. Autocar India is a leading source for the latest car and bike news and reviews in India. It is the Indian edition of the British magazine Autoc Car and has been providing in-depth automotive content since its launch in September 1999. You can’t argue with that, can you? Now, one of the annoying issues in previous Mercs or actually even the current generation of Mercs in India is the very fiddly steering controls. They were quite scratchy, didn’t really respond well. Now, with this model, with the new CLA, they work much better. A very nice tactile feel to it. You don’t have to keep pressing or swiping constantly to get them to work. Mercedes could have taken this opportunity to bring back some of those classic hard buttons we like, but uh they haven’t done that. But even so, you have got some which have a nice kind of tactile feel to it, like the dynamic select mode over here. And I think what I’m really happy about is the seat adjust which earlier had no tactile feel at all. It’s now got that lovely kak kak which really feels so much nicer, doesn’t it? The vents again, the turbine style vents look and feel absolutely fantastic. So despite being closer to the budget end of the Mercedes range, the CLA still exudes the same top class quality found in pricier MKS. Now let’s check out the back seat which in the Indian context is super important. [Music] Now, the previous CL8 wasn’t great in the back seat, and to be honest, neither is the new one. In fact, I think this is uh an issue, especially if you’re going to be chauffeur driven. Uh you’ve got very little under thigh support. Uh leg room also isn’t great. You’ve got the sloping roof, which would cut into the headroom of taller passengers. I’m quite short, so a bit okay. and the floor is raised substantially because of that battery pack underneath. Now, Mercedes say that the combustion engine version will have a much lower floor. So, you won’t have the same knees up position, but overall, I have to say this isn’t a very comfortable spot. But what you do get is this flip down armrest. Again, nice pair of cup holders here and a slot for your phone. Uh, no wireless charging over here, but at least it’s a nice phone holder. And another concern also is this massive massic panoramic sunroof or moon roof. It is fixed. It has no shade. Now, this one piece fixed glass roof is standard in the CLA and really opens up the cabin to create a fantastic ambiencece. But will it make the cabin a greenhouse that will overwhelm the air con in summer? Mercedes say the glass is heat insulated and has a special coating to protect passengers from heat, but we will have to wait till next May to see just how effective it is. Let’s turn to luggage space. The new CLA’s 405 L boot is smaller than the outgoing CLA’s, but the design is quite efficient. Well, it’s a pretty decently shaped boot. It’s pretty flat the floor. But of course, there is no spare, just a puncture repair kit. And in the Indian context, that could be a problem. And I think we’ll end up with having that space saver sitting on top of the boot floor. Now, in the EQS Merks, you couldn’t even open the bonnet, so forget about a frunk. But in the CLA, Mercedes have given you just that. The frunk can hold a useful 101 L of luggage. Okay, so let’s go for a spin in the Danish countryside to find out how the new CLA drives. The CLA electric, it comes with two options. You’ve got the top end 350 plus formatic, which is a twin motor four-wheel drive option. But what I’m driving is the 250 plus which is a two- wheelel drive or more specifically a rearw wheelel drive variant and this is the one that is going to be coming to India. Now the first impression is how refined the CLA is. Well, it is all electric so there’s no engine sound at all but even road noise, wind noise is pretty well contained. It’s only on coarse surfaces that a little bit of tire noise creeps into the cabin. The single motor CLA develops 272 horsepower and can accelerate from 0 to 100 ks in 6.7 seconds and has a top speed limited to 210 kph. The performance, it isn’t earthshattering, but in true Mercedes style, the CLA builds up power really strongly and progressively. In fact, you never feel you have a shortage of power. And especially in sport mode, you’ve got enough warmth. And the synthesized sound, which mimics an engine note through the speakers, actually sounds rather good. [Applause] Overtaking on these single lane Danish roads is quite easy and effortless. Where the CLA blows away other EVs is with its range and efficiency. On the WLTP cycle, it gives up to an incredible 792 km of range. On our test drive, despite some hard driving, the CLA returned a phenomenal 7.52 km per kilowatt hour. That equates to a realworld range of 734 km. Simply amazing. One big change with the CLA is the layout of the regen controls. Now in the earlier MKS, you had paddles to plus minus the regen. In the CLA, it’s been moved, the controls have been moved to the gear lever stock. So you push and pull to adjust the regen. It’s different, but uh I kind of preferred the earlier layout where plus minusing the paddles felt like you were mimicking gear shifts. A new brake bywire system has improved the braking system dramatically. Gone is that artificial and inconsistent response of previous electrified MKS. The CLS brakes inspire confidence and feel natural and normal. Another big improvement with this 4ch MBUX is the navigation system. Mercedes with this MBUX has used Google as a base to overlay its own maps. So basically you’ve got all the functionality of Google maps with the UI of the new MBOX and it is I have to say absolutely fantastic. The driver display too has a different design and functionality. You’ll also notice that the driver display, it doesn’t have as many options or variations to customize the instrument cluster. Mercedes says that basically owners just wanted the classic dial setup and the navigation. So basically that’s all you have. Out here in the Danish countryside, the CLA is an absolute joy to drive. Rear wheel drive means the steering is nicely uncorrupted. When it comes to steering feel, modern Mercs have really nailed it, and the CLA, it’s no exception. It just turns into corners with a wonderful fluidity. Nice and responsive off center. And at the same time, this one’s body roll also is well contained. Now, the ride comfort also is a huge improvement over the earlier CLA, which was hardedged and brittle. The ride on this one is firm, but it’s got a nice soft rounded edge. Now, mind you, I’m driving on super smooth roads, so that can be a bit misleading and we’ll only get a true picture of how comfy the new CLA is when we put it onto Mumbai roads. Mercedes will initially launch the electric CLA 250 plus in India at the end of the year and it’s expected with a very tempting price point of just around rupees 60 lakhs. While the exact India spec is still not completely known, there’s no doubt it will be superbly equipped. Sitting a size below the C-Class, the CLA is no doubt tight on cabin space. But the way the new CLA brilliantly combines cuttingedge tech and design, superb refinement, groundbreaking efficiency and range makes it truly irresistible. This isn’t just an electric car. It’s an electrifying drive into the future. [Music]
The Mercedes-Benz CLA is back in an all-new avatar, and for the first time will be offered as an EV too. Hormazd Sorabjee is in charming Copenhagen to drive the India-bound baby Benz.
Footage: Mercedes-Benz
Editor: Mohit Sharma
0:00 – Introduction
0:50 – Tech
1:56 – EV and ICE CLA for India
2:16 – Design and dimensions
3:42 – Interior and features
8:14 – Rear seat
9:56 – Boot and frunk
10:47 – Powertrain options
11:25 – Refinement
11:40 – Performance
12:33 – Range
13:04 – Regen braking
13:56 – Navigation system
14:45 – Handling
15:20 – Ride comfort
15:55 – Price expectation and verdict
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