Can the Mercedes CLA change the talk around EVs from range to efficiency?

Conversation would be running pretty dry before you discussed a petrol car’s tank range. What matters is mpg. This Mercedes could flip the talk the same way for EVs: we’ll speak not of range but efficiency.

The CLA 250+ EQ goes far. Not because of a vast slab of lithium, but by using the ions therein so well. It can recharge at 350kW. Less energy going in, and going in at a very fast rate, means briefer, cheaper stops. Recharging 225 miles of real (not WLTP) motorway range is 15 minutes. Do you pump petrol, pay and pee in significantly less? Anyway, home charging gives an operating radius of 180 miles without using public posts at all.

Yes the CLA does have a 360 mile range at motorway speed. We’ve done it. In cold blustery November. That’s 4.2mpkWh. Even Teslas can’t live with it.

It wins on range by being both big batteried and efficient. It wins on aero by having both a low Cd and a small frontal area. It wins on drive efficiency because of an F1-informed motor, working well at all speeds via a two speed transmission. The battery wins on capacity and charge time by breakthroughs in chemistry and cooling. The CLA isn’t about gains cancelling losses. It’s all gains.

Oh and... it rides with a supple yet well damped and quiet gait. Its steering has a lovely oiled progression, given purity by rear drive. Its seats are superb. The cabin interface is pleasing, both operationally and aesthetically. Mercedes touts game changing AI connectivity and an emotional driving experience. The former changes nothing and the latter isn’t really. But as a car to accompany you through life, it’s utterly superb.

Read the TG verdict on the best saloon of 2026 - the award-winning Mercedes-Benz CLA - here