Mercedes Built an Electric Wagon with a Planetarium in the Roof
Image Credit: Mercedes-Benz.
As the years tick by - a process that seems to be accelerating with alarming speed - my automotive tastes have begun to, shall we say, mature. I've spent decades hooning around in everything with an engine, and now, everything with a battery. The garage has seen a steady downsizing. I was never a fan of the big, lumbering SUVs, and while I appreciate a good sedan, my heart has always belonged to the nimble hatchback and the quick wagon. The "long roof," as we enthusiasts affectionately call it.
Finding the perfect one, however, is the automotive equivalent of searching for the Holy Grail. I want something that does everything. It needs to be practical enough for a run to the hardware store, subtle enough not to scream "mid-life crisis," yet packing enough electric punch to utterly humiliate some smug sports car owner at the traffic lights. In our new electric age, the pickings for a smallish, rapid wagon have been… nonexistent. Until now, it seems. Mercedes-Benz has pulled the silk sheet off its new CLA Shooting Brake, and my word, it's an interesting little thing.
Image Credit: Mercedes-Benz.
First, let's address the name. "Shooting Brake." Traditionally, that meant a two-door wagon, a gentleman's car for carrying hunting gear and a couple of Labradors. This, like its predecessor, has four doors. So, it's a wagon. A very, very stylish wagon, but a wagon nonetheless. And on the style front, it's a big improvement. The original CLA Shooting Brake was a genuine looker, but the second generation got a bit awkward. This new one (third time lucky?) is a return to form. It's 1.37 inches longer, an inch wider, and an inch taller, with a wheelbase stretched by 2.4 inches. It's got a bit more presence, a bit more stance.
The real changes, of course, are from the middle of the car backward. The roofline has been stretched into that lovely wagon shape, culminating in a pert rear end with LED taillights connected by one of those trendy light bars. Mercedes says this new shape adds a whole inch of headroom for rear passengers. An entire inch! Your vertically gifted friends might now be able to sit in the back without their hair brushing the headliner. A modern miracle of packaging. With the seats down, you get a very useful 45.5 cubic feet of cargo space. More importantly, for the one person who will ever do it, it can tow up to 3,968 pounds. Just imagine pulling your speedboat with this sleek electric machine. The looks you'd get.
Image Credit: Mercedes-Benz.
But let's talk about the roof itself - because this isn't just a roof. This is a statement. You can get a massive panoramic glass panel that's made of special heat-insulating glass. Tucked inside that glass are 158 tiny stars that can be illuminated along with the ambient lighting. Yes, Mercedes has put a starry night sky, a feature famously found in cars costing several hundred thousand dollars, into its compact wagon. You can even opt for an electrochromic function to make the glass opaque at the touch of a button. It's gloriously, wonderfully silly, and I absolutely love it.
And now, for the serious stuff that lives under the floor. Mercedes has announced two all-electric versions to start. The entry-level model is the CLA 250+ Shooting Brake with EQ Technology (a mouthful, I know), and the spicier one is the CLA 350 4Matic. Both get the same hearty 85 kWh battery, which is a promising start. The 250+ gives you a perfectly respectable 268 horsepower and 247 lb-ft of torque, sent to the rear wheels. The 350, being a 4Matic, powers all four wheels and bumps the output to a much more entertaining 349 horsepower and 380 lb-ft of torque.
Image Credit: Mercedes-Benz.
In terms of get-up-and-go, the base model will whisk you from a standstill to 62 mph in 6.8 seconds. That's brisk. It's enough to win most stoplight derbies against everyday traffic. The CLA 350, however, slices that time down to a flat 5.0 seconds. That's proper performance car territory, and it's more than enough to startle the fillings out of your unsuspecting passengers. Both top out at 131 mph, which is plenty for any public road on this planet. Interestingly, Mercedes has fitted a two-speed gearbox, which helps provide strong acceleration from a stop and better efficiency at highway speeds. A clever bit of engineering, that.
Of course, with any EV, the two questions that matter most are "How far will it go?" and "How fast does it charge?" Mercedes claims the CLA 250+ can manage up to 473 miles on a single charge. That is on the notoriously optimistic WLTP European test cycle. In the real world of American highways and lead-footed drivers like myself, you can expect less. Still, even if it's closer to 380-400 miles, that is seriously impressive. The more powerful CLA 350 is rated for a still-excellent 454 miles. As for charging, it supports DC fast charging at up to 320 kW. In plain English, you can add over 190 miles of range in just 10 minutes. That's less time than it takes to order a complicated coffee.
Image Credit: Mercedes-Benz.
Inside, things get a bit controversial. The interior is dominated by what Mercedes calls the MBUX Superscreen - essentially a giant slab of glass that can house up to three separate screens. It's all very high-tech and minimalist, but to me, it looks a bit like someone just propped a massive tablet on the dashboard. It just feels completely at odds with the elegant exterior curves. But, big screens are what the people want, apparently, and I'm not going to argue with progress.
Mercedes hasn't announced pricing yet, but given the tech and the step up from the previous model, I'd advise you to start checking the back of the sofa for loose change. It won't be cheap. But what the new CLA Shooting Break represents is something genuinely rare and exciting in the EV space: a compact, fast, stylish, and practical wagon. It's a car for people who still love driving but need something that can also handle the school run and a trip to IKEA. It's the electric do-it-all machine I've been waiting for. All I need now is to figure out how to order one with that bonkers starry roof, but without the dashboard-sized television.
