- The Mercedes CLA is the primary EV to characteristic each CCS1 and NACS charging ports.
- Each ports are on the precise aspect of the automobile underneath 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 Commonplace (NACS) plug this yr and subsequent. Tesla’s slimmer, sleeker plug kind is predicted to change into the commonest kind of charger within the coming years, and including entry to the Tesla Supercharger community will probably 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 attention-grabbing right here.
Whereas in Germany at Mercedes’ Sindelfingen manufacturing unit, InsideEVs discovered 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 will probably be situated on the precise aspect of the automobile, stacked one on prime of the opposite underneath the identical charging port door.
Picture by: Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes CLA Teaser (2025)
Mercedes not too long ago revealed a set of teaser photographs that includes a thinly veiled CLA prototype carrying 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.
Picture by: Mercedes-Benz
Having the 2 commonest kinds of charging ports will drastically 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 unit, and it appears to be like 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 is able to spawn three extra fashions, together with a capturing brake CLA and two crossovers (one in all 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 value noting that even the most recent 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 doubtless want a 350 kW CCS station to have the ability to match the official energy declare.
