First look: 2026 Mercedes-Benz CLA EV, hybrid split the bill

• Battery-electric CLA 250+, CLA 350 arrive first
• Non-PHEV CLA hybrid coming in a year
• EVs have 800-volt architecture, 320-kw max charging

Mercedes-Benz will kick off the replacement of all its global small cars this year—and when they do, all the models coming to the U.S. will sport some sort of electrification. But some will be more electric than others.

Battery-electric CLAs will be the first of the new generation of compact cars to arrive late in 2025. They’ll be followed by a CLA hybrid about a year after that, with replacements for the GLA-Class hatchback and GLB-Class yet to come. 

Not part of the current plan: plug-in hybrids.

Instead, the MMA componentry will be BEV-first, said Christoph Starzynski, Vice President Product Strategy and Product Steering Mercedes-Benz Cars, while a non-plug-in hybrid will follow. 

It’s a strategy that has been in the works since the MMA program, Starzynski told Green Car Reports. The blend of EV and ICE models was the way MMA “was always planned as a platform or architecture,” he said during a recent roundtable in Sindelfingen, during a press preview of the new range.

CLA EV: An 85.5-kwh core, with a motor or two

While the revamped CLA-Class grows larger and more technologically complex, it’s drawn closer to a few new nameplates in the EV space. Some aging products aside, the cars the CLA now competes with most directly include mass-market machines like the Toyota Prius and the Hyundai Ioniq 6.

With rivals like those, the 2026 CLA had to have an efficient battery at its heart. For the past few years, Mercedes has been maturing its EV technology with a series of concepts, starting with the recent EQXX concept. 

Both a single-motor and a dual-motor CLA will be offered. The CLA 250+ rear-drive, single-motor sedan rides atop an 85.5-kwh (usable) lithium-ion battery pack. It’s rated at 268 hp, and Mercedes predicts a 0-60 mph time of 6.6 seconds.

With a second 107-hp motor in front, the CLA 350 4Matic will offer all-wheel drive and a quicker acceleration time of 4.8 seconds. The front motor will be decoupled when not in use, for better efficiency, an effort that’s in concert with a heat pump and a low 0.21 coefficient of drag.

The 800-volt architecture of the CLA permits a charge rate of up to 320 kw, which could return 186 miles of range in 10 minutes on a DC fast charger. No estimates have been published for home Level 2 charging via its 11-kw onboard inverter. Based on WLTP ranges, it’s likely the most CLA 250+ will carry at least a 300-mile EPA rated range—perhaps much higher.

The CLA will benefit from a reworked regenerative braking system that avoids the pitfalls of that on the EQE and EQS cars. Instead of moving the pedal in response to regenerative braking, it will read the pressure applied to the pedal and blend regen and friction braking for a more smoothly combined force.

The CLA EV will have four regen modes—including a one-pedal drive mode. It’s “not something I’m a fan of,” Starzynski said, but customers wanted it.

With its 800-volt design, the CLA presents a question for charging in the U.S., where 400-volt Tesla stations are the most commonly available. Mercedes cars will be able to access the Ionna charging network that it’s a partner in, but Starzynski did not confirm how Mercedes would handle the compatibility of those 400-volt charging stations. 

“If we see a market demand for 400 volts in the United States when the car hits the market,” he said, “then we will also find a solution.”

2026 Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class: Gas-electric hybrid, minus the plug

Starzynski said the BEV-first design has resulted in a better ICE vehicle than might have been developed. That ICE hybrid arrives about a year after the battery-electric CLA sedan. In it, a 1.5-liter 4-cylinder will be mated to a 1.3-kwh battery pack, and to a 27-hp front motor integrated with an 8-speed dual-clutch automatic. No performance numbers or fuel-economy figures have been mooted, but Starzynski confirmed the CLA hybrid would be able to rely on its hybrid battery to allow the car to cruise on battery power alone at speeds of up to 60 mph.

The CLA hybrid will have electric drive range—just “not something you can certify,” Starzynski said—but there are no plans to come up with a “third way” solution for the car.

As a BEV or HEV, but not a PHEV, the CLA will remain one of the only, if not the only, Mercedes model to do so. A plug-in hybrid in this price and size class wouldn’t be a good choice, he suggested. In larger vehicles that require a more powerful drivetrain, plug-ins are a good “bridging scenario,” he explained. Given the possible cost and range trade-off, customers haven’t been clamoring for a CLA-sized PHEV—but for vehicles such as the GLC 350e plug-in hybrid now on sale in the U.S., the bridge to full-BEV driving is “definitely a strategy we want to keep.”

2026 Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class styling, space, and tech

The 2026 CLA—both electric and hybrid models—get lots of stars in their visual language in this generation. With a more pronounced wedge in its stance, the CLA EV wears 142 tiny three-pointed stars on its face, a big lighted one front and center, and more in the headlights and taillights. 

The wide-screen technology inside counts as another star, by any measure. A trio of digital displays marry under a pane of glass to create the “Superscreen,” a companion to the more expansive Hyperscreen in today’s EQE and EQS cars. The overpowering presence of the displays in the compact CLA might play better on the GLB SUV replacement yet to come—it’s a high-cowl, SUV-like dash shape, period—but the new interface plays well no matter who’s in the audience. It’s an immersive experience dubbed MB.OS, and it permits drivers to reorder apps on the home screen as they see fit, to swipe through screens like on a tablet, and to go full-screen with Apple CarPlay if they prefer that environment.

MB.OS factors in Google map data through a Mercedes-coded look and feel that even integrates lighting and voice quality to soothe the driver. If the voice-command system recognizes a tersely worded request, it can match the energy by dialing the car’s lighting from a cool blue to a vivid red, for example. 

All CLAs will sport a bundle of safety features including adaptive cruise control. A Level 2 driver assistance setup will come as an option, aided by an in-car network of eight cameras, five radar sensors, and 12 ultrasonic sensors, as well as over-the-air updates. 

Prices will be confirmed closer to the on-sale date, later this year. For comparison, the current CLA 250 costs $45,550. Expect more of everything, especially price—especially in the current EV-unfriendly political climate. 

Mercedes-Benz paid for travel so that we could bring you this first look of the 2026 CLA-Class.