It took me a while to wrap my head around the Mercedes-Benz CLA 250+. This is the newest Mercedes EV in India, intended to serve as the stepping stone into its world of electrified cars and it also happens to be a firmly first-world car aimed at a very young buyer. A bit hard to relate, as you can imagine, but it’s armed with what has historically ended most heated automotive debates — a three-pointed star. Is that all there is to it, though?

Let’s get to know it a bit better, shall we? The CLA 250+ wears a ₹59 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi) price tag; there’s a lower-spec CLA 200, too, priced at ₹55 lakh. The car you see here is the 250+ in AMG Line spec, which also happens to be the only kind you can buy. Staying true to the CLA stylebook, this new-gen car remains compact even as it has grown in some areas over its predecessors. There are EV elements to its design, bits of typical Mercedes sass and sporty undertones in some areas, and the overall effect is that of a contemporary, unmistakably youthful car that wears its illustrious badge with ease. So what if that front end isn’t going to win hearts?

At the forefront of the CLA’s design elements is the ‘grille’ which features 142 illuminated three-pointed stars laid evenly around the large (also illuminated) star emblem. The ‘connected’ light bar looks somewhat odd (it photographs especially underwhelmingly), but the rest of the CLA, fortunately, is quite appealing. Its swooping ‘banana’ profile, first introduced on the CLS nearly two decades ago, looks elegant and sporty, and it transitions neatly into the somewhat coupe-like rear end. The 18-inch AMG 5-spoke alloys look great and fill up the wheel arches really well; the CLA 200 gets 18-inchers, too, but styled differently. Tyre width varies at either end, with 225/45 R18s up front and 255/40 R18s at the rear. The spare wheel is, as you’d expect, a space saver. In other news, the doors are frameless, which definitely adds to the CLA’s sporty outlook.

Peak inside

The cabin, while identical in its layout between both variants, is made remarkably more appealing thanks to the AMG-spec seats that are racy without being uncomfortable, but they aren’t ventilated and that’s a huge miss. On a hot and humid day, with the fixed glass roof (tinted, but without any sort of retractable shade), I can’t say I was entirely at ease driving it around town. At night, it’s less of a struggle for sure. In fact, in the dark is where you will also witness one of its cabin’s party tricks — the ambient light themes. I think they really jazz up the cabin (some of the preset options look really nice) and certainly lend a sense of occasion.

The steering wheel, a flat-bottomed unit, is in line with the current-gen Mercs and feels great to grip, with a measured heft to it. The steering-mounted controls are neatly finished, too, although I’m not a fan of some bits (such as the volume control) which are touch-operated. A sudden blast of music in the middle of a tricky U-turn can be an irritant, to put it politely. The ‘dashboard’ is essentially one elongated panel featuring two screens and while the displays are crisp and the functions are intuitively laid out, the screen-dependency is quite annoying. To have to disengage all the ADAS functions with every restart is quite trying and I doubt it would ever grow on you. Sure, the CLA isn’t the first to do so, but that still doesn’t make it okay.

The overarching theme of the CLA is, indisputably, its compactness. Courtesy the new MMA (Mercedes-Benz Modular Architecture) skateboard platform that lends itself to EV and ICE formats, Mercedes has been able to maximise space — the CLA is longer and wider than its predecessor — but not to a revelatory effect. In reality, the CLA still is a front-row-oriented car you can occasionally use as an actual four-seater. Five? Yes, if your friends happen to be figurines. With the high floor and its sloping roofline, the rear seat feels particularly cramped although, in all truthfulness, it’s highly unlikely you’d buy one only to be chauffeur driven.

DRIVE TO DERIVE

It’s when you take to the wheel, having turned off all the collision-avoidance systems), that you begin to get the proper CLA experience anyway. This is a car that can make urban commuting fun, helped immensely by its electric powertrain and an impressive chassis. There’s an 85-kWh battery at your disposal, and the single rear motor delivers a credible 268 bhp and 34.1 kg-m. If that sounds meaty on paper, it feels even more so, thanks to its well-calibrated mannerisms that help it emerge as something special. Its compactness becomes among the strongest tools in its arsenal and there’s a ‘connection’ you develop with its intuitive responses that becomes addictive over time.

Over a gentle well-mannered drive across the city, the CLA 250+ felt predictable and quite sophisticated in how it responded to inputs. More indulgent driving can get proportionately more rewarding; the CLA can lay down some strong acceleration that, especially in this low-slung sedan format, feels delightfully engaging and fun. Okay, for reference, this is no substitute for the erstwhile CLA 45 AMG — that pocket-rocket managed a 0-100-kph time of 4.6 seconds; the CLA 250+ will do the same in a claimed 6.7 seconds. In isolation, though, it still feels potent and exciting to a reasonable degree.

FIRST-WORLD ORDER

Firmly first world, did someone say? Yes, because the CLA 250+ assumes you live in an upscale locality with impeccable roads, with easy access to high-output charging stations. If that’s an accurate description of your immediate surroundings, the CLA is almost too tempting a buy. If it isn’t though, living with it might be a struggle beyond the novelty of bringing one home.

The ride quality is firm but Mumbai’s uniformly bumpy roads (save for some recent infrastructural marvels) resulted in a pretty uncomfortable experience. Also, while the range is phenomenal — 792 km (WLTP), which easily translates to well over 500 km even under aggressive driving — it will help hugely if you have access to a powerful charger. For instance, Mercedes claims you can add 400 km of range in just 20 minutes using a 240-kW DC charger. Using the more commonly available 60-kW charger, though, I was only able to add 100 km of range in 30 mins, taking the charge from 48 up to 62 per cent in the process.

Then, there is the question of its peers. Or perhaps there isn’t. Sure, the CLA 250+ is objectively up against pretty competent rivals (the BMW iX1 LWB is the incumbent in this price category) and its pricing is undeniably steep given that it’s a CBU import, but then it’s not a car you’d necessarily consider to serve as a problem solver. Buying yourself a Mercedes-Benz remains among the highest of India’s automotive aspirations and the CLA 250+ is, thus, a rewarding enough continuation of that tradition.

@TheMotorGram

Published on May 29, 2026