2026 Mercedes-Benz CLA Is A Super Efficient Electric Car Designed With No Compromises

After seeing it in concept form in 2023 and letting us ride in a camouflaged prototype at the end of last year, Mercedes-Benz has unveiled the third-generation CLA, the compact four-door coupe that serves as the brand's entry point. While there will be a gas-powered hybrid version on the same platform, the new CLA was designed first and foremost as a zero-compromise EV, and the electric version will be one of the longest-range, fastest-charging and most-efficient electric cars you can buy.

The electric CLA's platform, battery pack, electric motors, electrical systems and more were all previewed and real-world tested by the Vision EQXX, and it's the first Mercedes to debut the brand's new MB.OS operating system and overhauled infotainment system, also previewed by the EQXX. Every bit of the CLA, from the powertrain to the tech stack, is totally new.

When I got to see the new CLA in person in Germany a few weeks ago, I got to walk around the car with Mercedes CEO Ola Källenius, who described the CLA as resetting the company's clock as it will usher in a totally new era for the brand. While the brand will keep making internal combustion engines into the early 2030s, Källenius says there is no question that Mercedes' future is fully electric, and this new CLA is leading the way.

Full disclosure: Mercedes-Benz flew me to Stuttgart and put me up in a car-themed hotel so I could get to see the new CLA under embargo and do deep dives into its engineering and design, as well as another car I can't tell you about yet.

The third-gen CLA rides on Mercedes' new modular MMA platform, which accommodates both fully EV and hybridized internal combustion powertrains but was designed first and foremost for the electric versions. That's definitely the way to go, versus something like the BMW i4 where an electric powertrain was shoved into a platform that was initially designed for just ICE cars. One big benefit? While the gas-powered CLA is front-wheel drive for better packaging, electric CLAs are rear-wheel drive (with all-wheel drive as an option) and they have a large frunk under the hood.

In the U.S. we'll get the electric CLA in rear-wheel-drive CLA250+ and all-wheel-drive CLA350 4Matic guises, both of which get a silly "with EQ Technology" moniker added onto the name to denote the electric powertrains. The single-motor CLA250 has 268 horsepower and 247 pound-feet of torque, with Mercedes claiming a 0-to-60-mph time of 6.6 seconds. That's three-tenths off from the current gas-powered CLA. Upgrade to the dual-motor CLA350 and you get 349 hp and 380 lb-ft — 47 hp and 85 lb-ft more than a current CLA35 and more torque than even the CLA45 S — which will hit 60 mph in 4.8 seconds, the same as the CLA35. Top speed for both models is a respectable 130 mph.

Mercedes isn't giving full details about the CLA hybrid yet, as it's hitting dealerships about six months later than the EV, but we know it'll feature a turbocharged 1.5-liter inline-4 engine paired with an 8-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, a 27-hp electric motor and a 1.3-kWh battery pack. Mercedes says the hybrid will be able to do up to 60 mph on electric power alone, and it can recuperate up to 25 kW of energy when braking.

Källenius says the electric CLA is "orders of magnitude" more efficient than the gas car, being an electric equivalent of a one-liter car. Both electric CLAs have a nickel manganese cobalt battery pack with 85 kWh of usable capacity, and the MMA platform has an 800-volt architecture for mega charging speeds. It supports DC fast charging speeds of up to 320 kW — 120 kW more than the EQS — which can add up to 202 miles of range in just 10 minutes. The entry-level single-motor model, which has a longer range, needs just 22 minutes to charge from 10 to 80 percent, while the dual-motor car needs 33 minutes for the same amount of charge. The CLA supports AC charging at up to 11 kW, and in the U.S. the CLA will have the Tesla-style NACS port as standard as well as a J1772 port for slow chargers, with an adapter for CCS fast-chargers. The CLA will also be the first Mercedes EV to support bi-directional charging for vehicle-to-home and vehicle-to-grid.

The original CLA had a drag coefficient of 0.24, impressive for any sort of car let alone a gas-powered compact, but the new CLA EV blows past it with a 0.21 drag coefficient, which is lower than any other production Mercedes save for the EQS and makes the CLA more aerodynamic than almost every other car on sale. Sometimes there can be a big variance in drag coefficient between model variants, but Mercedes says there's minimal difference with the CLAs, especially because most of the wheels have aero-focused designs. Every CLA also has pop-out door handles, which now have a mechanical release instead of an electric one for quicker operation, better feel and more durability. Slamming the CLA's door also provides a super satisfying thunk that better evokes hefty classic models.

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Another big boost to efficiency comes from the CLA's rear motor, which has a two-speed transmission like the Porsche Taycan. The first gear is for quick acceleration in city driving while the second gear is for highway cruising; the car will automatically shift depending on the drive mode and situation. In all-wheel-drive models the 107-hp front motor can disconnect when it's not needed, and Mercedes says the rear motor has 93 percent efficiency over long distances. The CLA also has a standard multi-source heat pump that uses ambient air, the battery and waste heat from the drive system to power the climate control system and other functions, as well as improve battery pre-conditioning.

All that adds up to seriously long ranges for every version of the electric CLA. Mercedes says the dual-motor CLA350 has a range of 479 miles on the European WLTP cycle while the single-motor CLA250 will do up to 492 miles — that's nearly as good as the EQS, which will do 507 WLTP-cycle miles in its most efficient guise from a 33-kWh-larger battery pack. In the U.S. EPA cycle the longest-range EQS is rated at 390 miles, so expect the CLA's rating to come in at around 375 miles. Mercedes has said the CLA will have an average energy consumption figure of 5.2 miles per kWh, which bests the Lucid Air and Hyundai Ioniq 6, the two most efficient EVs currently on sale.

In addition to being even more slippery, the new CLA's design looks really damn good as well. I've always been a fan of the CLA (and really any four-door coupe), but the new one is certainly Mercedes' best effort yet and a major step up from the outgoing CLA in terms of proportions, details and overall premium look and feel. The wheelbase has been stretched by 2.4 inches compared to the old car while overall length is up by 1.3 inches, and the new CLA is also an inch wider and just over an inch taller. One big contributing factor to the CLA's more upscale vibe is the additional side quarter windows, which not only give occupants more light inside and a better view out, but also makes the car appear even longer. Shorter overhangs help a lot, too, along with crisp lines above the wheel arches and slightly flared fenders.

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There will truly be no mistaking the CLA at night, especially if you go for the electric version. While the CLA hybrid (above) has a fairly normal grille up front — the only design difference for ICE vs. EV — the electric model comes standard with a black "grille" panel with a large central star that's surrounded by a pattern of 142 individual "chrome-effect" illuminated stars. These stars remain on while you're driving along with the central logo, and they animate when the car is unlocked or charging. I cannot even begin to tell you how much I love this. The CLA has a similar headlight shape and connected central lightbar as other Mercedes EVs, but the headlights themselves have three-pointed star elements, either in chrome on base models or as running lights if you opt for the fancier headlight setup; with the latter, the stars are separate from the high and low beams, so they'll always be visible when the lights are on. The taillights are similarly shaped, with three-pointed elements and a lightbar with dozens of short vertical segments.

Open the frameless doors and you're greeted with Mercedes' next interior design era, which is inspired by zen gardens. As promised by the EQXX, the CLA is the first Benz to feature the company's new pillar-to-pillar screen setup, which is called Superscreen. Essentially the whole dashboard is one long glass panel, combining a 10.3-inch gauge cluster, a 14-inch central touchscreen and an optional 14-inch passenger touchscreen. If you don't want the passenger screen, there's a black panel with an illuminated star pattern that matches the ambient light color. Illuminated climate control vents are placed in either end of the screen, with additional thin vents below the center screen. The CLA's ambient lighting is nicely placed, not as overwhelming as it can get in cars like the new E-Class.

At the front of the floating center console just below those vents is a row of touch-sensitive buttons for a few frequently used features, but otherwise the CLA is devoid of buttons, with basically everything controlled by your voice or the infotainment system (more on those two things later.) Mercedes finally redesigned its door-mounted seat controls at least, with the new ones being both better looking and actually moving when you adjust them, and the steering wheel has simplified haptic controls. Get your pitchforks out, though, because there are only two window switches with a button to choose between the front and rear windows, like on Volkswagen's ID cars and the latest Volvos and Polestars.

That center console has a nicely sized cubby with an optional wireless charging pad, a pair of cupholders and a large open space below it; I didn't get to sit in the hybrid CLA, but it doesn't seem to have much less space if any than the EV thanks to its clever powertrain packaging. Under the armrest is a large enclosed storage space, and the new door panel design is also quite nice looking with spacious cubbys as well.

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Mercedes' color and materials designers got to have a lot of fun with the new CLA. Upholstery schemes for the sporty seats include bright brown leather, a lovely cream that even has a light-colored steering wheel, black with lime green accents, and a white and black motif with a mix of suede and leather with red accents. The center console, door cards and other areas can have real aluminum or wood trim, along with a new option of a finish made from recycled paper. There are lots of areas with nice material mixes and contrast stitching, and everything feels high quality and very well made, a big step up from the old CLA and even other more expensive models.

The new CLA's 16.2 cubic feet of trunk space is actually down almost two cubes compared to the old model, but in person it seemed more spacious to me, so maybe the trunk shape has been better optimized. Under the hood you get a 2.5-cubic-foot frunk that's big enough to hold carry-on bags and other things, impressive engineering considering how tiny the frunks are in other EVs that have ICE versions — another benefit of MMA's EV-first approach. In terms of space for humans, despite having a standard fixed panoramic sunroof that extends extremely far back, the new CLA has 0.6 inch more headroom for front passengers and 1.1 inches more in the rear. Front legroom is slightly greater than the old car while rear legroom is slightly down, likely because of the batteries under the floor.

Despite all of the above, the biggest deal when it comes to the new CLA might be its technology and infotainment system, as that is what will rapidly spread across the entire Mercedes lineup over the next two and a half years. Debuting in the CLA is the production version of the MB.OS operating system that Mercedes has been teasing for a few years now, which was developed completely in-house and is powered by a new supercomputer and improved software and cloud connectivity. MB.OS can handle over-the-air updates for every vehicle system, including things like driver-assist features. For instance, the CLA will have the necessary hardware for advanced Level 2 hands-free systems that will become available after the car launches.

Mercedes is still using the MBUX moniker for the infotainment itself, which has been overhauled to be more intuitive and personalizable. The slicker graphics are powered by the Unity Game Engine, and the system is designed so it requires fewer actions to accomplish tasks or navigate between menus. For instance, you can now swipe at the edges of the screen to go back to the previous page, and there are customizable folders and app grid layouts. The home screen, which always shows the map view and has shortcut controls for the climate menu, will also display recently used apps and show suggestions for apps or functions based on how you use the system. Mercedes says it is seeing big drops in Apple CarPlay usage as its current MBUX software improves, and this new system will lower that number even further.

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The navigation system, which uses Google Maps data, shows a real-time view of the car and the surroundings. It's constantly taking into account all sorts of data parameters to give you the fastest and most efficient route, dynamically responding to traffic or how you're driving. Sometimes the car will say two shorter stops is more efficient, or maybe just one longer stop, and it'll do all that decision-making and battery pre-conditioning for you. At Mercedes-Benz's branded charging stations, the CLA will automatically reserve a charger in advance 15 minutes before you arrive.

If you get the third screen, your front seat passenger can stream videos using apps like Disney+ or YouTube, watch IMAX-enhanced movies on Ridevu or connect a gaming controller to play cloud-based video games like Forza through the Boosteroid service. People really do use these passenger screens, especially in China where Mercedes sees a 50-percent greater usage than when the EQS' Hyperscreen first debuted. Unlike cars like the E-Class, where the passenger screen has a special coating that makes it appear black to the driver, the CLA's passenger screen will turn off if the car's internal cameras sense the driver's eyes have looked over for a prolonged period of time. A 16-speaker Burmester 3D surround sound system with Dolby Atmos is available, with the Dolby tech now available for audiobooks on Audible — the Germans used 1984 as an example in our demo and didn't understand why us American journalists started cracking up.

Mercedes' biggest standout feature is the CLA's MBUX Virtual Assistant, which incorporates AI technology from both Google and Microsoft. Mercedes says this upgraded assistant can accomplish "advanced, natural, multi-turn dialogue" and that it even has a "short-term memory." You can string multiple thoughts and questions together, or ask it to accomplish two separate tasks, like changing the temperature and the radio station at once. Examples that were demo'd for us included asking the car to pick out a restaurant for a dinner date, specifying that we wanted a specific price range and a table with a view. After presenting us with some options, the assistant asked if we wanted the car to call the restaurant so we could make a reservation. The assistant will even recognize your emotions, with the Mercedes logo in the top right corner of the screen changing color based on how you're talking. I've already thought that Mercedes' current voice assistant is one of the best in the business and this new version seems a couple steps up beyond that.

Källenius says Mercedes' EQ lineup was hugely important for the brand, as it brought in many early EV adopters and customers that had never bought a Benz before and proved that the company's EV technology was more than competitive. Now, though, he says the company is refocusing and using the CLA strategy as a blueprint to chase mass EV adoption amid "ever-increasing" take rates. Classic model lines like the C-Class, E-Class and S-Class will gain next-gen electric variants, sharing more traditionally Benz styling with their gas equivalents in the same way as the CLA and G-wagen. We'll see the next-gen GLC debut this fall with a new design language for the company's rear-wheel-drive cars. Källenius describes the company's next few years of launches as Mercedes' biggest new product offensive in 100 years.

Next up and also riding on this MMA platform will be a Shooting Brake wagon version of the CLA that won't come to America, and GLA and GLB crossovers that will. The GLA and GLB will share the CLA's electric-first approach. Also in the pipeline are AMG versions of the electric CLA, which will boast more aggressive styling and tons of power. But first, Mercedes needs to actually launch this CLA. The 2026 CLA EV will go on sale in the U.S. this fall, with the hybrid to follow about six months later. I expect it to start at in the low $50,000 range.