A wagon that sips electricity more carefully than most sedans—and charges accordingly for the privilege. AUTO BILD put the electric Mercedes CLA 250+ Shooting Brake through its paces: 551 km on one charge at an average 16.4 kWh/100 km. In Germany, this version starts at €57,096.
At the heart of the CLA 250+ is an 85 kWh usable battery and a 272-hp electric motor driving the rear axle. A two-speed gearbox helps save energy at higher speeds. The result is impressive: the car sprinted to 100 km/h in 6.5 seconds—0.3 seconds quicker than the official figure—and tops out at 210 km/h.
But the real story unfolds on long trips. The 800-volt system is rated for up to 320 kW, and testers briefly recorded around 350 kW. Charging from 10 to 80% took just 22 minutes, and the first ten minutes alone added roughly 300 km of range. At home, though, things slow down: the standard onboard charger tops out at 11 kW, and the 22 kW upgrade costs an extra €654.
Practicality comes with a few trade-offs. The boot holds 455–1,290 liters, with another 101 liters up front. Braked towing capacity is up to 1.5 tonnes. In the back, though, space is tighter—passengers taller than 1.85 m may find legroom in short supply.
There’s also a wrinkle in the official range figures. AUTO BILD’s test car is rated at 688 km WLTP, while Mercedes’s current CLA 250+ Shooting Brake page claims up to 768 km—the maximum depends on configuration. That makes the 551 km result more meaningful when compared against the specific car tested, not the headline number for the whole lineup.
Mercedes-Benz recently unveiled the GLE L at the Chengdu auto show, with a wheelbase longer than the BMW X5 L’s.
