a few years ago Mercedes-Benz assured that from 2030 all its cars they would be electrical. A clearly ambitious goal now seen in perspective. In 2023 almost 12% of cars that the German brand delivered were pure electric, but in 2024 sales of its zero emissions have cooled with a drop of 22%.
An example is the Mercedes-Benz EQS, which is already noted as one of the star’s biggest failures. A car that Mercedes called its greatest exponent of luxury and technology. In Spain, this model barely exceeds 100 units sold in 2024. In 2023 it reached close to 300. And another example: the Mercedes EQE has achieved a total of zero units sold in China in October and November. It is a fundamental market for German premium companies.
The figures show that Mercedes-Benz has to change its strategy towards electric cars. They intend to do so with their new generation of electric vehicles, with more “affordable” models in the portfolio, and also more capable in range or charging technology. It’s just what he promises Mercedes CLA electric.
The electric CLA wants to “set new standards for autonomy, efficiency and charging speed”
“The Mercedes EQA is the beginning,” Mercedes-Benz Spain assured us, referring to what is its cheapest electric car (only the industrial Mercedes EQT is more affordable) and that right now starts at just over 57,000 euros. And the truth is that this is the only model that has managed to exceed 1,000 units sold in Spain.
Our market is not a good example when it comes to electric vehicles, which in 2024 will barely exceed a 5% share. In any case, the figures for Mercedes’ 100% electric vehicles are what they are: Worldwide, it has sold 135,908 electric vehiclesbeing more than 20% less than in 2023 (last year it enrolled 174,471).
That the Mercedes EQA is the only electric vehicle that achieves acceptable sales largely marks the path of what the brand should do. Precisely the path that aims to follow, and improve, the new Mercedes CLA.
Premiering the star’s new electrical architecture. The new generation of the compact Mercedes sedan will be presented in March 2025. It will be the car that inaugurates the new MMA platform from Mercedes and will have 100% electric versions but also 48V microhybrids. That is to say, it will not be a completely electric model, which shows where the manufacturers are still at despite the fact that it seems firm that In 2035 all cars sold in Europe must be electric.
From Mercedes they promise that this electric CLA is “designed to set new standards in terms of autonomy, efficiency and charging speed“. Which is what this new MMA architecture claims to do, based on a 800 volt system.
Mercedes has already advanced some of the credentials of the zero-emission Mercedes CLA, and that the Concept of this electric sedan previously did the same, unveiled in September of last year. At the same time, it materializes those anticipated by the Vision EQXX prototype.
Mercedes-Benz CLA Concept.
More than 700 km of autonomy and faster charges. The electric CLA will offer two batteries: a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery of 58 kWh and another lithium ion 85 kWh. The latter promises improved energy density thanks to its silicon oxide anode cells, which will translate into a consumption of about 12 kWh/100 km and autonomies that may exceed 750 kmcomparable to diesel models.
The LFP, with a lower capacity, will have tighter figures, but will allow cheaper starting versions, since these devices are more affordable. Ford has followed that same strategy with the Mustang Mach-E, for example, which also equips the cheapest one with this type of battery.
Another virtue of the new electric platform is that its system will support loads up to 320 kWexceeding the maximum 200 kW that Mercedes-Benz electric vehicles now offer. In a charging socket of 250 kW or higher you can pump more than 200 km in 10 minutes and about 400 km in 15 minutes.
Mercedes-Benz CLA Concept
The cheapest electric Mercedes to rival the Tesla Model 3. In addition, this Mercedes CLA follows the strategy of other electric vehicles, so it will have variants of rear-wheel drive and all-wheel driveequipped with one or two engines respectively. The rear engine is expected to be around 200 kW (272 CV)although the one in the concept signed 175 kW (238 HP). And that the all-wheel drive versions exceed 300 HP thanks to a second front propeller of about 80 kW.
This, added to the LFP battery, will allow the price of this zero-emission CLA to be adjusted. Even below the Mercedes EQA, which in its most affordable option has a lithium ion battery. Therefore, it is to be expected that this sedan will become your cheapest electric vehicle, starting below 55,000 euros.
Even so, and despite its improvements over the current Mercedes-Benz electric cars, the CLA will not have an easy time. With the Tesla Model 3 in the spotlight, the Californian It starts right now at 39,990 euros. This price corresponds to the Rear Wheel Drive that produces 283 HP (208 kW) and approves a range of 513 km, with its 60 kW battery. The Model 3 with the longest range between charges is the single-engine Long Range: it promises more than 700 km, with a price of 44,990 euros.
The Model 3 numbers far exceed the figures achieved by the Mercedes EQA: so far in 2024 it has signed almost 8,600 units, far removed from the 1,377 of the star SUV. We’ll see if this CLA manages to close the gap.
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Source: www.motorpasion.com
