- The Mercedes CLA is the primary EV to characteristic each CCS1 and NACS charging ports.
- Each ports are on the appropriate aspect of the automobile beneath the identical charging port door.
- The Mercedes CLA will debut subsequent yr with totally electrical and hybrid powertrains.
Most producers promoting electrical autos within the U.S. have introduced that they’ll start switching from the everyday Mixed Charging System (CCS) plug to Tesla’s North American Charging Customary (NACS) plug this yr and subsequent. Tesla’s slimmer, sleeker plug sort is anticipated to grow to be the most typical sort of charger within the coming years, and including entry to the Tesla Supercharger community can be a godsend for American EV drivers all over the place. Mercedes would be the first German automaker to take action beginning with the upcoming CLA-Class EV. However the Silver Arrow model is doing one thing very novel and fascinating right here.
Whereas in Germany at Mercedes’ Sindelfingen manufacturing facility, InsideEVs realized that it’s going to really include each NACS and CCS charging ports—a really distinctive proposition. If that’s common sufficient, the 2 charging ports can be positioned on the appropriate aspect of the automobile, stacked one on high of the opposite beneath the identical charging port door.
Picture by: Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes CLA Teaser (2025)
Mercedes lately revealed a set of teaser images that includes a thinly veiled CLA prototype sporting revealing camouflage, which appeared to have flaps on each flanks. We thought it signaled the arrival of a plug-in hybrid variant. Nevertheless, Mercedes confirmed that the automobile within the teaser photographs was the EV, which solely had one charging port door on its proper flank. It would solely make the pure electrical or non-plug-in hybrid CLA with a brand-new engine and hybrid system.
Picture by: Mercedes-Benz
Having the 2 commonest sorts of charging ports will tremendously enhance the CLA’s versatility, giving house owners the liberty to cost from Tesla Superchargers or any nationwide public quick charging community natively with out the necessity for an adapter. These adapters have typically confirmed problematic, and eliminating the necessity for one will end in a greater consumer expertise, which is what Mercedes is banking on with the CLA.
We noticed loads of camouflaged CLA prototypes driving across the Sindelfingen manufacturing facility, and it seems to be like a much bigger and extra grown-up automobile than its predecessor. It’s additionally the primary to be constructed on the 800-volt Mercedes Modular Structure (MMA), which can spawn three extra fashions, together with a taking pictures brake CLA and two crossovers (one in every of which can in all probability be a GLB-like seven-seater).
The high-voltage platform permits the CLA EV to cost at as much as 320 kilowatts, sufficient so as to add 186 miles (300 kilometers) in 10 minutes with en-route preconditioning. It’s price noting that even the most recent V4 Tesla Supercharger remains to be formally restricted to 250 kW of energy (though Tesla desires to improve it to offer over 300 kW), so you’ll possible want a 350 kW CCS station to have the ability to match the official energy declare.