2026 Mercedes-Benz CLA First Drive: Back In EV Form, And Rather Great, Too

While BMW and Porsche came in strong on the electric vehicle (EV) bandwagon, Mercedes’ line of EQ-branded vehicles didn’t end up being the best, or nothing. Energy efficiency was nowhere near what more affordable Teslas could muster, while charging performance was outgunned by – ahem – Hyundais and Kias.

But if history can serve as a lesson here, it’s that German automakers rarely mess up twice. When BMW engineered an F80 M3 that had a reputation for being too soft, too big, and too numb, the Bavarians came back swinging hard with the G80. The new E-Class is another perfect case in point; a machine that returns with the sort of grace, performance, and quality we remember the nameplate for. And when Elon Musk tried to troll the Porsche Taycan at the Nürburgring with his Model S Plaid, it didn’t take long for Zuffenhausen to get its act together and swallow the Plaid whole with the Turbo GT.

Which brings us to this: the 2026 Mercedes-Benz CLA. No, the last two generations of the CLA were not failures. As a matter of fact, as far as opening up the Mercedes brand to a younger demographic went, the CLA’s business case worked so well that it gave birth to two tiny crossovers, the GLA and the GLB. Rather, for its third act, the baby Benz was given the much more daring task of carrying the weight of Mercedes’ 2.0 EV offensive. And it doesn’t mess around.

2026 Mercedes-Benz CLA First Impressions

If the first-generation CLA looked kind of cartoonish, its replacement was a much cleaner and more attractive affair. The idea behind this car was always to blend the sleek look of a coupe with the practicality of a sedan, and the last-generation CLA did that like a champ, harnessing some CLS vibes in the process. The CLS, by the way, was the OG four-door coupe at Mercedes.

And this third-generation car continues in that direction. Unless you truly know your Benzes, you won’t really spot the differences between the old car and this entirely redesigned model. The side profile is still just as swoopy, and the way its rear end tapers downward towards a set of slim LED taillights is all very familiar. Only the front fascia, with its large grille opening, with tiny little illuminated stars, and full LED light bar, reveals the biggest visual change. That sleek shape, by the way, helps yield an impressive 0.21 drag coefficient. Dimensionally, the new CLA is only a few millimeters longer and wider than the car it replaces.

2026 Mercedes-Benz CLA Exterior Dimensions

This is a good-looking little car by any measure, but I do wish the entry-level models came by default with slightly larger, or at least more attractive wheels. The CLA 250+ I was driving for these photos looked a little goofy with its 17-inch set.

2026 Mercedes-Benz CLA: Differences Between The U.S. And Canadian Market

For now, Mercedes will focus on only two versions of the CLA for both the American and Canadian markets: the two-wheel-drive CLA 250+ and the dual-motor all-wheel-drive CLA 350. Mercedes did hint at the addition of a hybrid model by early next year, but none of that is still clear. At launch later this year, only fully electric CLAs will hit U.S. and Canadian showrooms. Both markets will also mostly mimic each other in terms of the available trim levels, options, and packages. At the moment of writing this story, pricing had not yet been released for either market.

U.S. Versus Canada Lineup Breakdown And Starting MSRP (model tested in bold below)

Driving Impressions And Performance

Drives Like A Gasoline Car, And A Proper German Sports Sedan

The new CLA’s rear electric motor is equipped with a two-speed, mechanical transmission to improve the smoothness of its acceleration, its high-speed efficiency, and to give it a more organic feel, the automaker says. Read: a more internal combustion engine (ICE) feel. The standout impression when driving this EV really is just that; the fact that it feels like any other gasoline-powered German sports sedan.

There’s even neat pumped-in audio that sounds almost like a high psi blow-off valve, so you’d never guess this thing is running on pure electricity. The hardware is also all new. The third-gen CLA rides on Mercedes’ multi-energy MMA platform (for Mercedes-Benz Modular Architecture), allowing the automaker to build both ICEs and EVs on the same assembly line. Mercedes is obviously learning a thing or two from BMW’s EV playbook here, but nobody said it too loudly at the CLA’s launch event. EQ is also a thing of the past at Mercedes, at least, as far as naming its EVs goes. The nomenclature is now reserved for powertrains. In other words, Mercedes would like you to call this all-electric CLA a CLA with EQ technology.

2026 Mercedes-Benz CLA Technical Specifications

Both the rear-wheel-drive CLA 250+ and the all-wheel-drive CLA 350 share an 85-kWh, liquid-cooled battery and the same rear electric motor with the integrated transmission. The CLA 250+ makes a humble 268 horsepower. It’s enough to provide spirited acceleration, nimble handling, and the expected rock-solid feel of a German sedan. Bear in mind that I was driving the CLA on near-perfect roads in Denmark where potholes, crack,s and tarmac imperfections are non-existent.

But the CLA comes with the sure-footedness, comfortable ride and refinement we expect from the three-pointed star. The CLA 350’s extra grunt, courtesy of a front-mounted AC motor resulting in 349 combined horsepower, is obviously welcome. In this form, accelerations are considerably more brutal, yet the CLA 350’s front end never necessarily feels heavier due to the extra motor. It just allows you to explore the utter limits of the fantastic chassis just a bit more. It’s great, and I can’t wait for an AMG version of this thing.

Regenerative braking is achieved by fiddling with the gear selector. The CLA can go from no regeneration at all to a full-on one-pedal car. And once the car picks up speed, that two-speed transmission can be felt as it does its thing in the back. For a short moment, everything appears to shut off as the electric motor prepares for the next cog. It’s an odd sensation, but one that gives the CLA more personality, as well as more top-end punch, a characteristic that’s often lacking from EVs.

2026 Mercedes-Benz CLA Energy Consumption, Charging, And Range

In terms of technology, charging, and range, the CLA is definitely up-to-date. For starters, it comes off of the factory floor with a North American Charging Standard (NACS) charge port, giving the car instant compatibility with Tesla’s Supercharger network of DC fast chargers.

The CLA is also built on an 800-volt charging architecture, which gives it, according to Mercedes, a maximum DC fast-charging rate of 320 kW. This puts the CLA up there with Lucids, Porsche Taycans, and the most recent Teslas. But there’s a bit of a catch to this charging performance. When running on 400-volt chargers, the CLA dwarfs its charging speed down to a mere 100 kW, or about the same as a first-generation Hyundai Kona. Not great. The onboard charger for level 2 home charging is equally mediocre at only 9.6 kW.

EPA And As-Tested Energy Consumption And Range

For now, EPA range figures are pending, but Mercedes does quote more generous WLTP range figures that are between 431 and 492 miles for the CLA 250+, and between 418 and 479 miles for the CLA 350. Variations in range are caused by different wheel sizes. Since this was a brief and controlled event, I was unable to properly test the CLA’s range, consumption, and charging performance. I’ll need to live with the vehicle in my neck of the woods for a longer period of time to properly evaluate it.

Interior Design And Comfort

Screens, Screens, And More Screens!

The CLA is equipped with Mercedes’ latest tablet display called Super Screen. It’s essentially made up of three separate screens that span the entire dashboard. I’ll get back to the technology in a bit, but the car now goes about with barely no physical controls, which I personally don’t like. The traditional Mercedes circular air vents also now look sort of out of place in this large black slab. They actually kind of remind me of Alex Murphy’s face plastered on Robocop’s head.

But the CLA is a well-put-together car, with a solid-feeling construction all around and a generally attractive interior. I love how Mercedes plays around with interior materials and color combinations to change the car’s vibe. The CLA can either be dressed up in a classy, mature, and understated manner, or be fitted with bright, almost florescent colors that seem to have taken their inspiration from sportswear. I love it. Rear leg and headroom are not massive, but good enough for a tall person. This is particularly important given the shape of the CLA’s roof. But tall people will find no issue spending time back there.

2026 Mercedes-Benz CLA Interior Dimensions

Technology And Ease Of Use

More Icons! Now With An AI Friend

The CLA gets Mercedes’ latest iteration of its MBUX infotainment system, which, over time, has evolved to become one of the better systems out there. It’s now a collection of – you guessed it – icons on the main screen that allow you to access vital functions. You can also download more apps, since this is a native system, like GM’s. But Mercedes still leaves you the option of downloading Android Auto or Apple CarPlay.

Mercedes also integrated its latest AI-assistant technology in the CLA through the “Hey Mercedes voice prompt”, a device that originally pioneered voice commands when it was first introduced more than five years ago.

But this time, the system is not only constantly connected to the internet, it’s also using both ChatGPT and Google Gemini’s brains to help entertain the conversation. Ask your CLA about a restaurant you’re going to or command it to find the fastest route out of a crowded city, and it’ll set it all up for you. The car even learns more about you as you use its AI, and can even mimic emotions to cheer up your mood, Mercedes says.

My experience with the system was actually quite inconsistent. In the CLA 350, it proved seamless and fun. But in the CLA 250+, the assistant failed to comprehend basic commands like changing the cabin’s ambient temperature. When I asked what it was, it regurgitated something related to toilettes source from Wikipedia. When I asked it to stop, it just kept going. And when I asked it about Copenhagen’s weather, it told me that an unexpected error had occurred. This obviously still needs polishing.

Through over-the-air updates (OTA), the CLA will indeed improve over time. But the technology doesn’t end there. The car is constantly monitoring your behavior through a tiny camera installed on the dashboard. If you dare check out what your passenger is streaming on their own screen for too long, their video will be interrupted, asking you, the driver, to keep your eyes on the road. There’s autonomous driving technology, too. But Mercedes doesn’t go by way of lidars, like Volvo or others. Rather, it uses cameras, sensors, and Google Maps’ hard data that it constantly updates in the car to help enhance the car’s precision on the road. I haven’t tried that bit of technology yet, but it does look promising!

Cargo And Storage Space

Large Trunk And Decent Frunk

The CLA’s 14.2 cu-ft of available trunk space is already rather good considering this sedan’s small size. But an additional front trunk (frunk) adds an extra 2.5 cu-ft of cargo space, for a total of 16.7 combined cubic-feet. That, by the way, is an identical cargo space number to a Honda Accord.

2026 Mercedes-Benz CLA Cargo Space

A Fun And Technologically Mature German Sedan

The last Mercedes EVs I drove, the EQS and EQE sedan and SUV, were good, but not great. Things got more depressing when I’d take a minute to digest their lofty price tags, to say nothing of their mediocre build quality. Mercedes’ first steps in the EV world will not be remembered as game-changing.

But with this CLA, you sense that the automaker has done its homework and focused on making not just a great EV, but a great compact sports sedan, too. The CLA comes with industry-leading charging performance, promising range, and neat AI-driven cabin tech. Yet, behind all of that, there’s still the brilliance of German engineering: a rock-solid car, nimble handling, great performance, and a brilliant, albeit, complicated, transmission that gives the car the sort of well-oiled mechanical feel we expect from a Benz. Mercedes is back in the EV race baby, and it’s all worked out and ready to brawl.