The 2026 Mercedes-Benz CLA will be available as an electric car and a hybrid. The electric CLA will be able to add 186 miles of range in 10 minutes, and may be the first electric car to feature CCS and NACS charging ports.
Mercedes-Benz still sees the future as electric, although the timeline for the transition is becoming a bit more uncertain Longer than expected.
When it arrives next year, electric 2026 Mercedes-Benz CLA It will be the first of four new models (three of which are US-bound) on the next-generation platform dedicated to MMA EV. With two charging ports, high-power fast-charging capabilities, a more advanced electrical architecture, new in-house designed engines, a two-speed transmission, and a hybrid powertrain option, it’s the genesis of Mercedes’ next scalable lineup.
Mercedes-Benz CLA
The 2026 Mercedes CLA will include CCS and NACS charging ports
The CLA’s electrical architecture is future-proof thanks to the new interior Electrical architecture 800 volts. Mercedes said the system has a peak charging rate of 320 kilowatts, but more importantly it can regain a range of 186 miles in 10 minutes on fast charging starting from a 10% state of charge. This equates to about 36 kilowatt-hours of energy in 10 minutes, Mercedes said. It will take less than 22 minutes to go from 10 to 80% charge, according to Mercedes.
Home charging will use an onboard 11.0 kW charger – which is probably good for an eight-hour overnight charge with the US model’s usable capacity of 85.0 kWh.
Mercedes engineers revealed that when the CLA launches in the US, that will be the case Two charging ports Under the door there is one charging port. One will be a CCS port while the other will be a NACS (Tesla) port.
They said this is for the customer’s benefit, because who wants an adapter that can get lost or break? The transmission and rolling stock units shown have only the CCS port and no photos of the two charging ports are shown side by side.
Mercedes-Benz CLA
Mercedes electric cars use two-speed transmissions and new electric motors
Mercedes has designed and developed a new electric drive unit, called EDU 2.0 (Electric Drive Unit 2.0). These engines are the first in a new family of battery-electric engines, just as Mercedes has created families of gas-powered engines. The engines are said to be scalable and future iterations are coming, presumably for AMG and heavier SUV variants.
The rear-wheel-drive single-motor CLA cars will have a 200-kilowatt permanent synchronous motor (PSM) at the rear with 268 hp. 4Matic all-wheel drive models will add an 80 kW motor to the front axle and engage during acceleration or when slip is detected. Both motors feature silicon carbide adapters.
The CLA will be the first, but not the last, Mercedes EV to feature 2- Transmission speed. Engineers expect most of the automaker’s upcoming and future electric vehicles to have added complexity in the name of smoothness and efficiency.
The engine (EDU 2.0), transmission and power electronics are assembled in a single housing.
Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class EV
First gear has an 11:1 ratio and reaches a top speed of 68 mph while second gear shifts to a 5:1 ratio with a top speed of 130 mph. The second gear is used for highway driving and driving while the first gear is designed for dynamic and low-speed driving. A friction-based wet clutch is used to engage first gear while a dog clutch is used to engage second gear to ensure that the average consumer does not feel the transmission shifting and reacting at different speeds, according to Mercedes engineers.
Mercedes-Benz CLA
Mercedes is rethinking its regenerative braking system
Mercedes engineers realize that the EQS’s (and EQS’s) combined two-stage braking system is far from ideal.
The MMA platform, specifically the new CLA, uses Mercedes’ next-generation regenerative braking system. This system is still a two-stage hybrid system, but engineers claim that it works differently to the current system in the EQS.
The vehicle will use regenerative braking until it cannot recover quickly enough or until the necessary conditions do not allow it (battery too full, too cold, too hot, etc.) before the friction brakes are engaged. It is possible to recover up to 200 kilowatts, according to Mercedes.
Unlike the EQS and EQE, the brake pedal will not move on its own when the car uses regenerative braking.
One-pedal driving will be enabled through some four levels of regeneration, dubbed D- (Single Pedal Driving), D, D+ (Minimum Reg), and D Auto. Engineers said the car will remember the regenerative braking setting selected at the turn of the key and will not change until the user changes the system, unlike today’s car.
Mercedes-Benz CLA
Every American CLA gets an NMC battery pack
In other markets, the entry-level CLA will have a 58.0 kWh (usable) LFP battery pack. The US market will not get this battery because it will not meet US range needs, according to a Mercedes spokesperson.
The US-spec CLA will come standard with a larger 85.0 kWh (usable) nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) battery pack. This represents 96% of the pack’s capacity, making the total capacity 88.5 kWh, engineers said.
Both bundles use prismatic cells instead of follicular or cylindrical cells. The engineers said this route was taken to make the best use of size, dimensions and stability. The new chemistry features silicon anode materials for increased energy density.
Upcoming AMG models will use their own distinct battery pack.
The battery software has been developed and integrated internally and will continue to be implemented internally. Markus Schäfer, a member of the Mercedes Group’s board of directors and the carmaker’s chief technology officer, said full vertical integration is key to the carmaker’s future. All hardware and software must work in tandem. That’s why Mercedes now, for the first time in history, has a Chief Software Officer in the executive management.
The system is capable of bidirectional charging, and is applied to home (V2H) and grid (V2G) cases.
Mercedes-Benz CLA
2026 Mercedes-Benz CLA enters the MMA platform
The MMA platform is a new clean BEV platform. Mercedes engineers said the platform and battery pack are both scalable. It is expected that more than 90% of future Mercedes models will be based on a common battery platform.
The entire package is modular with uniformly designed battery components, which serve as the core element of the platform. The battery pack isn’t structured in the same way as the Tesla Model Y, with the battery acting as the car’s floor and seats mounted to the pack. But the battery pack is part of the vehicle’s safety structure.
Every MMA-based Mercedes EV will have a heat pump.
Mercedes said two crossovers will follow the CLA. Between the lines of wink and nod it may directly replace the GLA and GLB SUVs. Then comes the CLA Shooting Brake, which won’t be coming to the US because we can’t have nice things.
There is at least one example of an engineering flaw that appeared from the beginning. Since the MMA platform was originally conceived as a dedicated modular BEV architecture, during the planning process a Hybrid powertrain Baked in, the front electric motor shares mounting points with the hybrid model’s gas engine. This causes the electric motor to sit higher than it would need to. This will result in the CLA having a trunk capable of holding only a small suitcase.
Mercedes-Benz CLA powertrain
The CLA hybrid option will live alongside the electric car
In the Hybrid, there’s a new 1.5-liter turbo-4 under the hood and mated to an 8-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission with a 27-hp electric motor located between the engine and transmission. Total system power is 187 hp. A 1.3 kWh lithium-ion battery is mounted under the driver’s seat, and the entire system runs on 48 volts.
Mercedes said the system is capable of driving on electric power only or cruising at speeds of up to 62 mph.
All gears of the 8-speed automatic transmission can be used to recover up to 25 kilowatts of energy back into the battery pack. Mercedes has said this will not be a plug-in hybrid.
Hybrid models will be front-wheel drive, but all-wheel drive will be available with an electronically disengaging driveshaft and clutch.
Mercedes-Benz CLA powertrain
Mercedes engineers said a 1.5-liter inline-4 was chosen over the turbo-3 due to noise, harshness and vibration concerns. The new engine weighs 17% less than the previous 2.0-liter turbo-4 found in today’s CLA. While this engine had a belt starter generator, the new engine eliminates that as well as any conventional starter and generator, as these functions are handled by the electric motor. A 12:1 compression ratio allows for efficient miller circulation, and a newly designed manifold integrates the exhaust gas turbocharger directly into the plumbing to save weight and space.
No fuel economy forecast was provided, but engineers said the goal is “diesel-like fuel consumption.”
Mercedes-Benz has not announced pricing, range, equipment or final specifications for the 2026 CLA EV or Hybrid. This information will come at the official reveal and closer to the launch.
–
Mercedes-Benz paid the travel and accommodation costs along with some German pastries for Green Car Reports to bring you this live report.
