2026 Mercedes-Benz CLA EV looks to right wrongs

• The 2026 Mercedes CLA EV gets 2-speed gearbox

• It also sports a one-pedal drive mode

• Set to debut in 2025, the CLA EV has no price yet

In the middle of a swirl of blowing snow in the Austrian Alps, I grabbed the door handle of the CLA EV prototype. It clicked and felt solid in my hand. Instant positive impression secured.

As I slid into the camo-covered 2026 Mercedes-Benz CLA EV prototype I met my handlers for the next 40 minutes: Timo Stegmaier, senior manager of electric drive systems for Mercedes, and Tom Steller, a spokesperson for the automaker. Both asked if I was cold only to be shocked that I wasn’t: “I’m from Minnesota,” I said. ”This is just another day.”

After sleeping in a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter RV van on the side of the mountain overnight and driving the 2025 Mercedes-Benz E 53 Hybrid from Stuttgart, Mercedes allowed me to sit right seat in a 2026 Mercedes CLA EV prototype for a long, revealing session. Here’s what I learned.

2026 Mercedes CLA EV feels solid, composed, and refined

My instant impression of the CLA EV?: This thing is solid. Despite being a prototype–I was told it was a near-production spec car–the door shut with a solid thunk. The covered interior didn’t rattle or squeak. The car was library quiet despite riding on Michelin Alpin 5 winter tires. Not even a howl or hum came into the cabin from the thick tread blocks on the tires. I heard the faintest hint of wind noise from the crazy storm swirling around us as we blasted down the slick road.

Stegmaier confirmed the prototype was riding on a passive steel suspension, but wouldn’t comment on what offerings may be on deck for the production car. AMG models, and maybe even upper trim levels, will probably sport adjustable dampers. But even with the passive steel suspension the ride was controlled.

2026 CLA EV seems quick, focuses on regenerative braking

The prototype I rode in was a dual-motor model utilizing Mercedes’ new EDU 2.0 (Electric Drive Units 2.0) with silicon-carbide inverters. This model sports a 268-hp permanently synchronous motor (PSM) mounted in the rear and a 107-hp motor up front. Given the conditions both motors probably continuously, or darn near, engaged.

Mercedes hasn’t given official times, but a 0-60 mph in the low 4.0-second range seems attainable.

Despite Stegmaier’s heavy foot both on the straights and around corners, the CLA EV prototype remained pointed where he was going. The new ECUs and PCUs all reacted instantaneously to the slick conditions. The winter tires didn’t seem to break traction, and the car always remained pointed in the right direction during acceleration even with the instant torque—very controlled, very impressive.

I didn’t feel the new in-house designed 2-speed automatic transmission shift. In fact, it was so seamless and transparent, I forgot the car had a 2-speed transmission. There was a lot going on with the blizzard.

The CLA EV will ride on the automaker’s new MMA dedicated EV platform. With that comes a new electrical architecture, new ECUs, new software—and, promised, a much better regenerative braking system than the lackluster one found in the EQE and EQS cars. And while  rivals at Audi and Porsche don’t believe in one-pedal driving, Mercedes does.

The CLA EV’s regenerative braking still has its usual three settings including D-, D, D+—but now there’s also a D Auto mode. D- offers one-pedal driving; each step reduces regen from there, until D Auto where the system automatically adjusts for conditions. Mercedes engineers in Stuttgart had said the system will, unlike today’s EQE and EQS EV lineup, remember the last selected mode and stick with it even through a key cycle. The brake pedal will also never move unless the driver touches it—also unlike the system in the EQE and EQS.

The new regenerative braking system is capable of up to 200 kw of recuperation before the friction brakes take over. 

That recuperation feeds energy back into the 85.0-kwh (usable) battery pack via a future-proofed 800-volt electrical architecture. Charging speeds will top out at 320 kw, and Mercedes said the CLA EV can add 186 miles of range in 10 minutes on a fast charger (translating to about 36 kwh). Charging from 10-80% will take less than 22 minutes, according to Mercedes. Level 2 charging will use an 11.0-kwh onboard charger, but charging times haven’t been revealed yet.

Stegmaier told me the CLA EV prototype was in D- mode for regenerative braking. He added the friction brakes never engaged once during our drive. I had to take his word for it.

The system adjusted to the conditions even in D- full regen one-pedal mode despite the slick snow-covered surfaces. I didn’t feel traction break one time under braking. The car never got sideways outside of Stegmaier messing around on a tight switchback corner, and stability control never seemed to engaged.

2026 Mercedes-Benz CLA EV looks back to go forward

The exterior of the CLA EV was covered in camo. But my eyes know what they saw, and it clearly looks like the concept car shown in 2023. The headlights and taillights even seem to have the Mercedes star in them. Shine brightly, CLA EV.

Inside the Mercedes team had most everything covered up with black cloth, and asked me to withhold impressions on that for production-ready vehicles. Here’s what I can say: The dashboard shape is nothing like today’s Mercedes EVs, which sit high and you feel as if you’re staring out the cockpit or piloting a boat. The dash shape and placement reminded me a lot of both the old Mercedes 190E and W126 era from the late ‘80s and early ‘90s along with the G-Class. The short dash tucks up to the windshield, and uses its space efficiently. 

I didn’t drive the CLA EV, so every impression I have is coming from my brief right-hand seat experience. But it’s clear, even in camo-covered prototype form and limited exposure, Mercedes has listened to the feedback about its current EVs. The CLA EV rights some of the recent wrongs—and puts Mercedes on a clear path for the electric future.

Mercedes-Benz paid for travel and lodging so that we could bring you this test drive review.