The Mercedes-Benz Concept CLA-Class has an enormous range and super-fast charging

It seems that everyone strives for the crown of the best compact electric sedan.

Just days after Tesla launched a facelifted Model 3, followed by BMW’s New Class concept, Mercedes-Benz is here with a new concept electric sedan, the Concept CLA Class EV.

In contrast to the New Class, the Concept CLA Class EV does not have a fundamentally different design compared to current models. Instead, it’s a snazzy four-door sedan with a whopping 466 miles of range and a new 800-volt architecture that’s said to allow for fast charging. fast enough to get a range of 248 miles in 15 minutes, says Mercedes-Benz. This range value corresponds to the European WLTP standards; In the US, the number will certainly be slightly lower, but likely still impressive.

Even the Mercedes-Benz logo lights up.
Photo credit: Mercedes-Benz

From the outside, the concept CLA-Class looks unmistakably Mercedes, with a sleek, curvy figure, a massive dotted (excuse me, starred) grille on the front, and elements of the Mercedes-Benz logo dotted throughout repeat. It’s all backed up by a much of LEDs. Readers, we’re talking a plethora of LEDs here; Thankfully, Mercedes says it’s all “LED lighting with very low energy consumption,” so it’s unlikely to drain the car’s battery as quickly as it might seem.

Other notable details include light bands that wrap almost the entire car, 21-inch wheels with star-shaped spokes, and (again) the illuminated logo at the rear.

Boss: Can we make it even shinier? Designer: Hold my beer.
Photo credit: Mercedes-Benz

Inside has the car even more LED lighting and an incredible number of shiny and/or illuminated surfaces. There’s a huge mini-LED display that spans the full width of the cockpit, providing infotainment for both driver and passengers. Luckily, there’s no way all these bright bells and whistles end up in mass-market cars, which should make the experience of being inside…well, bearable.

A technical highlight: the Mercedes-Benz Operating System (MB.OS) software and the hardware that powers it, as well as the associated sensors (including LiDAR) are all ready for Level 3 autonomous driving. However, the cars based on this concept will likely come to market with level 2 autonomy, allowing semi-automated driving on “virtually all types of roads”.

The Concept CLA-Class is “close to production,” meaning we’ll be seeing cars with similar numbers from Mercedes-Benz soon. It also pioneers a new electric segment of entry-level Mercedes vehicles, with the full range including four new models; a four-door coupe, a shooting brake and two SUVs.

These wheels are cool, but we suspect they will be a little different when the cars based on this concept come out
Photo credit: Mercedes-Benz

There is no information about the price, but Mercedes-Benz press materials mention words like “entry-level”, which means that cars based on this concept should actually be cheaper than most Mercedes cars. Whether that price can approach $40,000, which seems to be the magic number for compact electric sedans these days (see Tesla Model 3, Volvo EX30), is another question.