- The Mercedes CLA is the primary EV to function each CCS1 and NACS charging ports.
- Each ports are on the best facet 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 automobiles within the U.S. have introduced that they may start switching from the everyday Mixed Charging System (CCS) plug to Tesla’s North American Charging Normal (NACS) plug this yr and subsequent. Tesla’s slimmer, sleeker plug sort is predicted to turn into the commonest sort of charger within the coming years, and including entry to the Tesla Supercharger community can be a godsend for American EV drivers in every single 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 attention-grabbing right here.
Whereas in Germany at Mercedes’ Sindelfingen manufacturing facility, InsideEVs realized that it’ll 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 best facet of the automotive, stacked one on prime of the opposite beneath the identical charging port door.
Photograph by: Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes CLA Teaser (2025)
Mercedes not too long ago revealed a set of teaser pictures 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 is going to solely make the pure electrical or non-plug-in hybrid CLA with a brand-new engine and hybrid system.
Photograph by: Mercedes-Benz
Having the 2 most typical sorts of charging ports will enormously enhance the CLA’s versatility, giving homeowners 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 generally 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.
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Mercedes-Benz
We noticed loads of camouflaged CLA prototypes driving across the Sindelfingen manufacturing facility, and it seems like an even bigger and extra grown-up automotive than its predecessor. It’s additionally the primary to be constructed on the 800-volt Mercedes Modular Structure (MMA), which is able to spawn three extra fashions, together with a capturing brake CLA and two crossovers (one in every of which is able to 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 newest V4 Tesla Supercharger remains to be formally restricted to 250 kW of energy (though Tesla needs to improve it to supply over 300 kW), so you’ll seemingly want a 350 kW CCS station to have the ability to match the official energy declare.
