New look for compact Mercedes models
This popular range of affordable prestige cars is about to undergo a dramatic transformation as the world’s leading carmakers shift gears on vehicle development.
Mercedes-Benz has revealed a show car previewing a coming family of up-market compact EVs from the German brand. The Concept CLA Class was revealed on Sunday evening, ahead of the opening of the big IAA Mobility 2023 expo in Munich.
“The Concept CLA Class is the forerunner for an entirely new all-electric segment of entry-level vehicles at Mercedes-Benz,” Ola Källenius, chairman of the Mercedes-Benz Group said.
The line-up will include a four-door coupe very similar to the sleek show car, plus a shooting brake-style wagon and two SUVs, he added.
It’s expected production of the four-door coupe will begin in 2025.
The driving range and recharging time figures Mercedes-Benz announced are impressive; more than 750km on a full battery is the promise, along with the ability to add 400km of range in just 15 minutes when plugged into a suitably powerful DC fast charger.
All four of the new EVs will be based on the new Mercedes-Benz Modular Architecture, or MMA.
The company says this is an “electric-first” vehicle platform.
This means electric propulsion was the priority during design, but internal-combustion engine versions, including hybrids, can also be produced.
MMA features many of the technical advances seen in the earlier Mercedes Vision EQXX. This super-aerodynamic one-off testbed was last year driven more than 1000km on a single charge, from south-west Germany to the south of France, to demonstrate its efficiency.
The production car family based on MMA will feature electric drive system technology similar to that in the EQXX.
“Our lightweight, in-house development features 800-volt electric architecture and a two-speed transmission, paired with a smartly packaged battery with excellent energy density,” said Källenius at the unveiling of the Concept CLA Class.
The packs in Mercedes-Benz’s current EVs operate at 400 volts, and they all use single-speed transmissions, so the coming MMA-based models will be quite different.
“Ninety three percent of the energy stored in the battery will actually arrive at the wheels,” Källenius went on. “That’s more than double the energy efficiency of the modern ICE equivalent. In summary, this is an engineering masterpiece.”
According to Mercedes-Benz Group chief technical officer, Markus Schäfer, his team of engineers is aiming for an energy consumption target of 12kWh/100km from MMA-based vehicles. This is a very low number compared to most EVs on the market today.
Mercedes-Benz execs say their new EV will be an “electric hypermiler”.
Its efficiency will be similar to an internal-combustion car with about 1.0L/100km consumption, they claim.
The new family of MMA-based EVs will also incorporate an improved, AI-enhanced version of Mercedes-Benz’s infotainment tech and new safety systems. The vehicles will use more sustainable and recycled materials.
Mercedes-Benz aims to reduce CO2 emissions associated with production of the MMA family by “more than 40 per cent”. The Concept CLA Class points to some of the ways they plan to do it.
The body and chassis of the show car is made from “almost CO2-free steel and CO2-reduced aluminium”, the car maker says. “Our new electric drive unit uses close to zero heavy rare earths,” claimed Källenius. The interior features sustainably produced leather upholstery and some trim made of recycled paper.
According to our sources, the new MMA-based models will be more expensive than Mercedes-Benz’s current compact cars, like the A-Class hatch, CLA four-door and GLA crossover.
While the EVs will headline the rollout of the new MMA-based line-up, expect Mercedes-Benz Australia to also import versions with internal-combustion engines.
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