Mercedes-Benz Teases Electric Next-Gen CLA-Class Due Next Year
Mercedes just refreshed the CLA-class for the 2024 model year, a makeover that included a new mild-hybrid powertrain option. But bigger change is coming for the brand’s smallest offering, and Mercedes has released a video preview in which CEO Ola Kallenius discusses the highlights while driving a camouflaged mule around the automaker’s test track in Immendingen, Germany.
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All New, New, New
The next-generation CLA will be the first Mercedes built on an all-new platform that will eventually underpin four models. Not all are expected to come to the U.S., but the Mercedes-Benz Modular Architecture will sprout the four-door CLA coupe, a hatchback and two SUVs. Designed to accommodate both hybrid and fully electric powertrains, the platform will allow Mercedes flexibility in adapting to differing rates of electric vehicle adoption around the world.
Mercedes-Benz isn’t sharing details on either powertrain yet, although Kallenius does say the next CLA has a two-speed transmission as part of its “from-the-ground-up, brand-new powertrain” that helps increase efficiency. Mercedes also says the car incorporates technology from the Vision EQXX concept, in which it claimed to have “achieved unparalleled efficiency.” Rather than simply add range by making a bigger battery, the automaker says the Vision EQXX’s pack is 30% lighter and just half the size of a similar EV’s battery.
When it unveiled the Concept CLA Class, Mercedes said it was aiming for an electric range of more than 460 miles. That figure is based on the Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure used to calculate range for the European market, which tends to peg range higher than the EPA test cycle used here. Mercedes also claimed efficiency of around 5.2 miles per kilowatt-hour, which would best the most efficient EVs currently on the market by about 1 mile/kWh.
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MB.OS
The new CLA will also debut the automaker’s next-generation in-car technology, which is based on a new Mercedes-Benz Operating System. A generative AI-powered interface called MBUX Virtual Assistant responds to spoken commands, allowing voice control over numerous vehicle systems. In the video, Kallenius says, “every digital feature that you can possibly think of, you’ll probably find in this car.”
For now, all we can see of the actual car is a fixed panoramic glass roof and an LED headlight in the shape of the Mercedes three-pointed star (sans the outer ring). But we’ll get our first look at the first of the brand’s next-gen EVs soon; Mercedes promises to unveil the new CLA in 2025.
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