- Battery-electric CLA 250+, CLA 350 arrive first
- Non-PHEV CLA hybrid coming in a yr
- EVs have 800-volt structure, 320-kw max charging
Mercedes-Benz will kick off the alternative of all its world small vehicles this yr—and after they do, all of the fashions coming to the U.S. will sport some kind of electrification. However some might be extra electrical than others.
Battery-electric CLAs would be the first of the brand new era of compact vehicles to reach late in 2025. They’ll be adopted by a CLA hybrid a couple of yr after that, with replacements for the GLA-Class hatchback and GLB-Class but to return.
Not half of the present plan: plug-in hybrids.
As an alternative, the MMA componentry might be BEV-first, stated Christoph Starzynski, Vice President Product Technique and Product Steering Mercedes-Benz Vehicles, whereas a non-plug-in hybrid will comply with.
It’s a method that has been within the works because the MMA program, Starzynski advised Inexperienced Automotive Reviews. The mix of EV and ICE fashions was the way in which MMA “was at all times deliberate as a platform or structure,” he stated throughout a current roundtable in Sindelfingen, throughout a press preview of the brand new vary.
2026 Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class
CLA EV: An 85.5-kwh core, with a motor or two
Whereas the revamped CLA-Class grows bigger and extra technologically advanced, it’s drawn nearer to a couple new nameplates within the EV house. Some growing old merchandise apart, the vehicles the CLA now competes with most instantly embrace mass-market machines just like the Toyota Prius and the Hyundai Ioniq 6.
With rivals like these, the 2026 CLA needed to have an environment friendly battery at its coronary heart. For the previous few years, Mercedes has been maturing its EV know-how with a sequence of ideas, beginning with the current EQXX idea.
Each a single-motor and a dual-motor CLA might be supplied. The CLA 250+ rear-drive, single-motor sedan rides atop an 85.5-kwh (usable) lithium-ion battery pack. It’s rated at 268 hp, and Mercedes predicts a 0-60 mph time of 6.6 seconds.
With a second 107-hp motor in entrance, the CLA 350 4Matic will provide all-wheel drive and a faster acceleration time of 4.8 seconds. The entrance motor might be decoupled when not in use, for higher effectivity, an effort that’s in live performance with a warmth pump and a low 0.21 coefficient of drag.
The 800-volt structure of the CLA permits a cost price of as much as 320 kw, which may return 186 miles of vary in 10 minutes on a DC quick charger. No estimates have been revealed for residence Stage 2 charging through its 11-kw onboard inverter. Based mostly on WLTP ranges, it’s seemingly essentially the most CLA 250+ will carry at the least a 300-mile EPA rated vary—maybe a lot greater.
2026 Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class
The CLA will profit from a reworked regenerative braking system that avoids the pitfalls of that on the EQE and EQS vehicles. As an alternative of shifting the pedal in response to regenerative braking, it would learn the strain utilized to the pedal and mix regen and friction braking for a extra easily mixed pressure.
The CLA EV could have 4 regen modes—together with a one-pedal drive mode. It’s “not one thing I am a fan of,” Starzynski stated, however clients wished it.
With its 800-volt design, the CLA presents a query for charging within the U.S., the place 400-volt Tesla stations are essentially the most generally accessible. Mercedes vehicles will be capable to entry the Ionna charging community that it’s a companion in, however Starzynski didn’t verify how Mercedes would deal with the compatibility of these 400-volt charging stations.
“If we see a market demand for 400 volts in the USA when the automotive hits the market,” he stated, “then we can even discover a resolution.”
2026 Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class
2026 Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class: Gasoline-electric hybrid, minus the plug
Starzynski stated the BEV-first design has resulted in a greater ICE car than might need been developed. That ICE hybrid arrives a couple of yr after the battery-electric CLA sedan. In it, a 1.5-liter 4-cylinder might be mated to a 1.3-kwh battery pack, and to a 27-hp entrance motor built-in with an 8-speed dual-clutch automated. No efficiency numbers or fuel-economy figures have been mooted, however Starzynski confirmed the CLA hybrid would be capable to depend on its hybrid battery to permit the automotive to cruise on battery energy alone at speeds of as much as 60 mph.
The CLA hybrid could have electrical drive vary—simply “not one thing you possibly can certify,” Starzynski stated—however there aren’t any plans to give you a “third approach” resolution for the automotive.
As a BEV or HEV, however not a PHEV, the CLA will stay one of many solely, if not the one, Mercedes mannequin to take action. A plug-in hybrid on this value and dimension class wouldn’t be a sensible choice, he urged. In bigger autos that require a extra highly effective drivetrain, plug-ins are an excellent “bridging situation,” he defined. Given the potential price and vary trade-off, clients haven’t been clamoring for a CLA-sized PHEV—however for autos such because the GLC 350e plug-in hybrid now on sale within the U.S., the bridge to full-BEV driving is “undoubtedly a method we need to preserve.”
2026 Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class
2026 Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class styling, house, and tech
The 2026 CLA—each electrical and hybrid fashions—get a lot of stars of their visible language on this era. With a extra pronounced wedge in its stance, the CLA EV wears 142 tiny three-pointed stars on its face, an enormous lighted one entrance and heart, and extra within the headlights and taillights.
The wide-screen know-how inside counts as one other star, by any measure. A trio of digital shows marry below a pane of glass to create the “Superscreen,” a companion to the extra expansive Hyperscreen in at the moment’s EQE and EQS vehicles. The overwhelming presence of the shows within the compact CLA would possibly play higher on the GLB SUV alternative but to return—it’s a high-cowl, SUV-like sprint form, interval—however the brand new interface performs properly regardless of who’s within the viewers. It’s an immersive expertise dubbed MB.OS, and it permits drivers to reorder apps on the house display as they see match, to swipe via screens like on a pill, and to go full-screen with Apple CarPlay if they like that atmosphere.
2026 Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class
MB.OS components in Google map information via a Mercedes-coded feel and appear that even integrates lighting and voice high quality to assuage the driving force. If the voice-command system acknowledges a tersely worded request, it may match the power by dialing the automotive’s lighting from a cool blue to a vivid crimson, for instance.
All CLAs will sport a bundle of security options together with adaptive cruise management. A Stage 2 driver help setup will come as an choice, aided by an in-car community of eight cameras, 5 radar sensors, and 12 ultrasonic sensors, in addition to over-the-air updates.
Costs might be confirmed nearer to the on-sale date, later this yr. For comparability, the present CLA 250 prices $45,550. Anticipate extra of all the things, particularly value—particularly within the present EV-unfriendly political local weather.
Mercedes-Benz paid for journey in order that we may carry you this primary look of the 2026 CLA-Class.
