Styling
With its arching glasshouse and steeply raked tailgate, the third-generation Mercedes CLA Shooting Brake Electric cuts a familiar form. And it is, broadly, a good-looking car, given there are so few obvious direct premium rivals to it in this sector, even today. At its best in sporty AMG Line Premium Plus trim (as tested here) and available in some nice, sharp colours, we're certainly not calling this compact wagon ugly.
What we are less convinced about, though, is Mercedes' newly developed fetish for its own fabled emblem. The company seems determined to absolutely plaster all its latest cars with (literally) hundreds of the things, with the CLA Shooting Brake Electric being no exception. Not content with the honking great nose badge that punctuates the 'radiator grille' of the wagon, Stuttgart then frames this item with no fewer than 142 smaller light-up stars, all of these minus the circle which normally frames the centrepiece graphic. For the panoramic roof above the passenger compartment, there's another 158 clustered asters which illuminate with the in-cabin ambient lighting. Grief, Mercedes has even baked the logo into the head- and taillamp signatures of the vehicle.
So. Many. Three-pointed. Stars. As if Mercedes is trying to painstakingly reinforce the message that, yes, you're about to drive a Benz. We know, guys. We can see it's a Mercedes. Mainly because it also has the hooked-up light clusters, fore and aft, that were a signature of the EQ era of zero-emission vehicles. And they're a needless callback aesthetic flourish on a car that is now going under the much simpler moniker of 'Electric' (with a capital E).
Interior
Because the CLA Shooting Brake Electric sits on the same Mercedes-Benz Modular Architecture (MMA) EV platform as the
closely related new GLB Electric, much of what we said about that 'seven'-seat SUV a few days ago counts again for this estate.
For you're looking at the same great slab-faced dashboard layout, which can accommodate almost 40 inches of digital displays if you specify the car in the correct fashion to unlock this profusion of pixels. Called the Superscreen, it will always house at least a 10.25-inch driver's cluster and 14-inch MBUX central infotainment screen, but options include a 14-inch passenger panel too, as well as a 12.2-inch effective-view head-up display above the instrument binnacle.
Also, in our grandest-spec CLA Shooting Brake, that same white, lined trim that looks like the two halves were installed the wrong way around in relation to each other, which we saw in the GLB, can be found in what is, otherwise, a high-quality place to sit. Essentially though, as long as you don't mind the massive digital interface, this is a decent interior - as you'd expect of a Benz.
Practicality
The CLA has always been about form over function, even in Shooting Brake form, and that remains true of the third-generation car. That said, its EV platform does lead to a generous amount of leg- and headroom in the second-row seating, thanks in part to the flat floor. However, despite the external bodywork growing in all dimensions, the rear-door apertures are still quite small and the roof low, so if you're taller then getting into and out of the Mercedes can required a little extra folding of your neck to avoid banging your head.
Interior stowage solutions throughout the cabin are OK, although the central-armrest cubby in the front is not the biggest item in the world for an EV like this, while the boot is really only average if you're judging it by estate standards. At 455 litres with all seats in use and just 1,290 litres with the rear row folded down - albeit we'll accept there's a major practicality plus point here as the backrests are split in the most helpful 40:20:40 configuration - then this is no cavernous load-lugger in the mould of a
Skoda Superb Estate. Yet the carmaker manages to remedy things somewhat, managing to carve a 101-litre front boot out of proceedings as there's no engine under the CLA Shooting Brake Electric's bonnet, natch.
Performance
Mercedes is, at present, offering three powertrains for the CLA Shooting Brake Electric. The first is a small-battery model with a 58kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) chemistry pack. Power from the solitary rear-mounted motor tops out at 224hp accompanied by 335Nm of torque, which means the Electric 200 goes from 0-62mph in 7.6 seconds and can do a theoretical 326 miles between charging sessions.
The other two CLA Shooting Brake EVs alternatively deploy an 85kWh nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) battery, with the mid-level Electric 250+ remaining a single-motor variant. Although its torque is unchanged from the 200, its power increases to 272hp, so the 0-62mph time is down to 6.8 seconds while the range increases to an outright peak of 473 miles.
The top dog, which we're looking at here, is the only dual-motor CLA Shooting Brake Electric and it's called the 350 4Matic. The additional motor ramps up outputs to 354hp and 515Nm of torque, which - with the traction advantages of AWD - can sprint from 0-62mph in five seconds dead, but the payoff is range reduced to a maximum of 453 miles; although our high-spec AMG Line Premium Plus test car on big alloys saw that number come down even further to 418 miles.
As the 350, the CLA has the effortless muscle and punch that you'd expect of a top-of-the-line Merc, although the unusual decision to go with a two-speed reduction-gear transmission at the back (much like Porsche deploys in the
Taycan, to give more low-speed acceleration and greater high-pace economy, and out-and-out top speed too) becomes evident as you can actually sense the Shooting Brake shifting from one ratio to the next if you mat the throttle when leaving 30mph zones and then keep it there for a prolonged period. But, otherwise, the way the CLA accelerates and the method with which you can cycle through three modes of regenerative braking (off, medium and one-pedal) by clicking the gear selector backwards and forwards is most pleasant. Even if you could argue almost everyone would be better off with the almost-as-swift 250+.
All CLA Electrics are on 800-volt architecture, so you'll be looking at 20-22 minutes to top up their battery packs from 10-80 per cent at their peak charging speeds (200kW DC for the 58kWh unit, 320kW for the 85kWh item), but obviously the electrical efficiency on the 350 4Matic isn't as good as that of the 250+. In this car, we saw an indicated 3.5 miles/kWh from the CLA Shooting Brake, across a 24-mile route that wasn't that challenging in terms of ascents, nor was it driven stupidly quickly. That would equate to about 300 miles on a full battery, whereas we think the 250+ would more easily get close to 4 miles/kWh and thus a real-world range of something like 340 miles.
Ride & Handling
There's nothing inherently wrong with the way the Mercedes CLA Shooting Brake Electric 350 4Matic drives. In fact, it's a highly polished, comfortable and capable machine, with lots of grip, good, clean steering with sweet weighting, and excellent levels of rolling refinement and ride comfort - despite the fact every model has conventional springs and dampers, with no adaptive option available. That last fact is especially impressive, considering every CLA SB Electric weighs beyond two tonnes.
Perhaps the issue, then, comes with pre-drive expectations not being met with reality. If you're hoping for something racy and dynamic and involving, having looked at the Shooting Brake's swoopy lines beforehand, you might find the buttoned-down experience it serves up to be somewhat lacking. It's very smooth and slick, as we've said, but there are lots of EVs that are very smooth and slick to drive, and they're cheaper than a Mercedes-Benz premium product, which is both an understandable and yet unavoidable conclusion. There's nothing particularly...
Mercedes-y about the way the CLA Electric goes down the road.
Value
The other problem with the Mercedes CLA Shooting Brake Electric 350 4Matic is that, in this AMG Line Premium Plus specification with a few options, it's getting on for 60 grand. At £58,915, clearly the Benz is not a cheap way to get into an EV in the wider scheme of things, although we're beholden to report the entry-level Electric is only a shade beyond £40,000. Playing in its favour, though, is the fact that there are so few electric estates of any type, never mind ones from a prestigious and upmarket manufacturer with this sort of badge clout, while the equipment levels on the AMG Line Premium Plus are suitably luxurious and wide-reaching to justify its elevated expense.
Verdict
The transition to electric power hasn't hurt the Mercedes CLA Shooting Brake at all, as it significantly improves the refinement and big-car feel of the vehicle overall. As a 350, it's seriously rapid and likeable thing, although it doesn't deliver a driving experience that's particularly memorable in any significant way. However, if you've always wanted a zero-emission wagon with a three-pointed star on its prow (and, indeed, in many, many other places in this particular instance, given Mercedes' blunderbuss approach to the logos' application on the CLA), you'll love the cultured and urbane 350 4Matic and its all-round spread of talents.
