Almost two tons of metal — and the greenest car in the test
Green NCAP crowned the new electric Mercedes the most sustainable car of the round. A 90 kWh battery, nearly two tons of curb weight — and the highest rating of all.
Nearly two tons of curb weight, a 90 kWh battery — and the top sustainability score anyway. The Mercedes-Benz CLA EQ 250+ has just shattered the idea of who is supposed to win in Green NCAP’s ranking.
The organisation’s latest round of testing pitted four cars against each other. The winner is the CLA EQ 250+: 91% and five stars for sustainability. The electric sedan comfortably outpaced rivals from very different classes.
Green NCAP puts it bluntly: the choice of powertrain now weighs more heavily on a car’s environmental score than a dozen other engineering details. And the CLA is the clearest proof of it. A sedan with a 90 kWh battery and a kerb weight pushing two tons posts an official WLTP consumption of 12.2 kWh per 100 km. Lifecycle emissions sit at around 119 g CO2-eq. per km. For a car this size, the number is almost surreal.
In warm urban conditions, the CLA EQ 250+ stretched its range to 651 km. At -7°C on the motorway it dropped to 456 km — still more than respectable for an EV. Ultra-fast charging at up to 342 kW refills the battery from 10 to 80% in 22.6 minutes. Comparable to a fuel-up.
The rest of the field looks far less impressive next to it. The Toyota C-HR hybrid managed three-and-a-half stars and 66%. The petrol-powered MINI Cooper C took three stars and 52%. And the MG HS landed at the back: just one-and-a-half stars and 26%, with lifecycle emissions of 303.7 g CO2-eq. per km. The gap between the leader and the laggard is nearly threefold on CO2. The electric CLA has made the point: efficiency no longer depends on size or weight.