Typically talking, every time a automobile is obtainable in each internal-combustion and all-electric variants, the EV model is usually a bit compromised. Mercedes-Benz is flipping the script, nevertheless, with the Idea CLA-Class, revealed in Munich at IAA 2023 to preview the corporate’s new, electric-first compact automotive platform.
Primarily based on the Mercedes-Benz Modular Structure (MMA), the Idea CLA-Class boasts slippery styling, sustainable inside supplies, and a company-estimated vary of 466 miles on the optimistic WLTP scale. And though powertrain and battery particulars are scarce, the automaker says the CLA takes inspiration from the Imaginative and prescient EQXX idea for each its electrical motors and dash-spanning Superscreen infotainment system.
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Crisp, Clear, And Elegant
The CLA idea takes a well-recognized swoopy sedan (“four-door coupe”) form that’s been an indicator of the nameplate since its arrival for the 2014 mannequin yr. Nonetheless, designers tweaked the look with an extended hood and shorter rear deck for sportier proportions, enhanced by the resplendent Pomegranate Crimson coat of paint. Additional differentiating the Idea CLA from its predecessors is a a lot bolder grille aspect, cribbing its bottom-feeding form from the Mercedes-AMG SL roadster and GT sports activities automotive. Rising from the body-color grille panel are a galaxy of three-dimensional, illuminated stars, giving the idea a jewelry-like look up shut.
Mercedes’ company Sensual Purity design language is plainly obvious within the Idea CLA’s modern bodysides and curved rear finish, but it surely has been revised barely with flared fenders showing underneath a crisp strip of chrome that blends seamlessly into the entrance and tail lamps. Talking of, the head- and taillamps each boast full-width LED lighting and three-pointed daytime working lights, recessed inside a aid as a substitute of showing beneath a sheet of glass or plastic. That offers the CLA a stepped-nose look up entrance together with the grille form, which is perhaps the automotive’s solely styling misstep.
Inside, the Idea CLA borrows lots from the Imaginative and prescient EQXX, together with sustainable supplies and a high-tech Superscreen show. The silver and white seat upholstery is completed up in Nappa leather-based that’s been tanned utilizing espresso husks, an in any other case unusable byproduct of the drink trade, and the shimmering purple accent cloth is constructed from recycled PET plastic. Strips of lab-grown silk seem contained in the door pockets, the ground mats are constructed from bamboo, and the satin silver door pulls and armrest trim are literally constructed from recyclable paper. Enjoyable styling parts embody the traditional Benz laurel wreath, upsized and embroidered into the seats.
Most clearly, the Mercedes-Benz Idea CLA-Class options an enormous, dash-spanning Superscreen infotainment system comprising three separate shows: an instrument cluster and touchscreens within the heart and in entrance of the passenger seat. What seem like Mercedes-signature turbine HVAC vents are literally dials for the dual-zone local weather management, with airflow truly coming from strakes behind the floating Superscreen. Operating the infotainment system is MB.OS, the automaker’s new working system that incorporates a liquid-cooled processor – displayed proudly on the firewall – for quicker operation, crisper graphics, and improved performance.
Batteries Included
Because it’s nonetheless an idea and never a working, driving prototype, the CLA present automotive’s “specs” are much less literal and extra a guesstimate of what we are able to anticipate from the series-production mannequin slated to hit the market by the tip of 2024. But these theoretical specs nonetheless supply loads of promise. Though its water-cooled battery is distinct from the EQXX’s air-cooled unit, the Idea CLA boasts quite a lot of effectivity and sustainability tweaks.
Two totally different battery varieties will likely be provided: entry-level, cost-effective lithium-ion phosphate chemistry and flagship silicon-oxide anodes for larger power density. The battery cells are additionally held in place utilizing adhesive as a substitute of screws, saving weight, supplies, and cash whereas providing even higher structural integrity. And though Benz wouldn’t cop to battery measurement, it did estimate that aforementioned 466 miles of vary and power consumption of 5.2 miles per kilowatt-hour. Do some math and also you’ll come to a battery with 89.6 kWh of usable capability.
The 800-volt electrical structure provides the Idea CLA-Class 250-kilowatt DC quick charging functionality, permitting it so as to add an estimated 248 miles of vary in quarter-hour. As soon as on the highway, the CLA’s battery sends energy to a compact Mercedes-Benz Electrical Drive Unit (MB.EDU), which integrates the electrical motor, two-speed transmission, and related inverters and electronics. Every unit weighs 243 kilos and places out 235 horsepower, and the usage of rare-earth metals within the MB.EDU is much lower than in earlier Mercedes motors for higher sustainability.
On the Idea CLA, that drive unit is mounted on the rear axle, and the MMA platform can also be able to dual-motor energy, that means the manufacturing CLA ought to supply electrified all-wheel drive. Mercedes wouldn’t affirm whether or not the gasoline-powered model can be rear- or front-wheel drive in base type.
Manufacturing Preview
Talking of all-wheel drive, the MMA platform will spawn at the least three variants apart from the CLA – two crossovers and a station wagon. As on the four-door, the opposite vehicles will doubtless additionally supply inside combustion powertrains, although the EV variant ought to arrive first. Different particulars as to the MMA vehicles have but to be decided, although we anticipate the CLA taking pictures brake, GLA, and GLB to make their debuts quickly after the CLA.
Clearly, pricing for these merchandise is much off, however Mercedes has been frank up to now that it’s going to doubtless be some time earlier than EVs obtain price parity with inside combustion vehicles. We’ll actually have extra info earlier than the manufacturing CLA hits European roads by the tip of subsequent yr, although till then, Mercedes-Benz’s Munich idea will give us lots to dream about.
Take a look at the Motor1 Podcast Rambling About Vehicles for extra on the brand new Toyota Century SUV and different automotive information, obtainable under.
