Mercedes-Benz has been noted as a compact electric saloon in coupe style.
Most likely, the car is destined to be part of the next-generation CLA-Class range, and we’ll see it as a concept in early September at the 2023 Munich Motor Show. The launch of its market position will take place around 2025 and the timetable suggests an arrival for the 2025 or 2026 style years.
The upcoming CLA-Class, along with other members of Mercedes’ next-generation compact family, will run on a newly evolved platform called MMA (Mercedes Modular Architecture). The platform will have hybrid and all-electric powertrains and will be the last designed by Mercedes. for fuel engines. All of Mercedes’ long-term platforms will be exclusively electric, as the automaker prepares to go all-electric by 2030.
Mercedes said the MMA platform will spawn its first model around 2025, most likely the next CLA class. The platform will be used for all Mercedes styles up to and including the C-Class segment. The most sensible thing about that is that Mercedes will have the MB. platform. EA for medium and giant styles, AMG. EA for AMG high-performance models and Van. EA for light commercial vehicles.
The upcoming CLA-Class will reportedly offer the choice of electric or mild hybrid powertrains. There will be no plug-in hybrid.
The prototypes are heavily camouflaged, but the styling elements look similar to existing Mercedes themes; the car would possibly be influenced by last year’s Vision EQXX car concept, especially the side windows. Some of the Vision EQXX’s technologies are also expected to be discovered in the new sedan, such as the concept’s highly effective energy recovery systems.
Mercedes-Benz Vision EQXX
Electric cars based on the MMA platform are expected to be equipped with 800-volt electrical systems, meaning that high-speed charging, likely of more than 200 kW, will be possible. The battery capacity reaches one hundred kWh.
It’s unclear what the electric CLA-Class will be called, however, if Mercedes sticks to its current naming practice, the sedan may also simply be called EQA. If that happens, the existing EQA electric compact crossover sold overseas is expected to be renamed the EQA SUV, which we’ll possibly see later this year when the EQA crossover is updated. It is also conceivable that the CLA designation for the electric model will be maintained, as opposed to a designation with the EQ logo. This ties into rumors that Mercedes plans to remove the EQ logo soon.
Spy images of the Mercedes-Benz CLA Class 2025 – Photo credit: Baldauf
The upcoming CLA-Class will be part of a variety of lightweight compacts Mercedes calls Entry Luxury (further afield are Core Luxury and Top-End Luxury). Other models in the Entry Luxury package are expected to come with CLA Shooting Brake. GLA and GLB classes, all of which will have an electric option.
To concentrate on more cost-effective premium vehicles, the existing A-Class and B-Class will be phased out. The A-Class has already been discontinued in the United States.