Advert
The Mercedes-Benz CLA Shooting Brake is the more practical ‘estate’ version of the CLA saloon, offering an impressive electric driving range of up to 469 miles and an ultra-rapid charging rate of 320 kW.
The Mercedes-Benz CLA saloon offers an excellent electric driving range of up to 481 miles, and now the Shooting Brake version is here, with a more practical estate body style. You get a slightly larger 455-litre boot, but the maximum range drops slightly to 469 miles, which is still impressive. Is this the CLA to go for?
The key difference between the Mercedes-Benz CLA saloon and the CLA Shooting Brake is in the luggage department. The CLA saloon has a 405-litre boot, whereas the 4,731mm-long CLA Shooting Brake has a 455-litre luggage space. This is only 50 litres larger, but with a tailgate you get much better access. You can also fold the rear seats down in the Shooting Brake to increase the luggage space to 1,290 litres. Legroom for rear seat passengers isn’t huge. Both CLA models also have a 101-litre ‘frunk’ under the bonnet, which is helpful for storing charging cables.
The CLA Shooting Brake also looks more stylish in our opinion, with more of a sporty rear end. The CLA has daytime front running lights and rear lights which (optionally) include the Mercedes-Benz star as a design element. The front grille also features 142 individually animated LED chrome-effect fully illuminated stars, which is standard on all electric CLAs.
Both CLA models share the same 800-volt electrical platform, resulting in ultra-rapid charging. The 85.5 kWh battery uses nickel manganese cobalt technology, and a 200 kW (268 hp) electric motor delivers rear-wheel drive.
The Mercedes-Benz CLA Shooting Brake is reasonably compact and because it’s a proper car rather than an SUV, it sits low to the ground, and it’s rear-wheel drive, so it has rewarding handling. It feels sporty and agile to drive, and you can also opt for the CLA 350 4MATIC all-wheel drive version which offers more grip.
The CLA’s steering is responsive, body control is good, and ride quality is comfortable, but with low profile tyres it doesn’t absorb potholes as comfortably as an SUV such as the GLB with higher profile tyres.
The CLA exhibits the normal qualities of an EV: smoothness, refinement, near-silence and responsive acceleration (with a 0-62 mph time of 6.8 seconds). You can feel the two-speed transmission changing gear when accelerating. First gear aims to optimise acceleration from standstill, offer efficiency in urban traffic, and deliver a high towing capacity (1,500 kg for the rear-wheel drive CLA). Second gear is designed for power delivery at high speeds and efficiency on the motorway.
The gear selector is the conventional Mercedes stalk on the right-hand side of the steering column, however this time around there are changes: you pull the stalk towards you for brake energy recuperation, pull it again for maximum regen, and push it away for no regen. The button on the end of the stalk is usually for Park, but it’s now also the EV’s on/off switch.
One of a handful of buttons at the bottom of the centre console is for Dynamic Select, offering a choice of driving modes: Eco, Comfort, Sport and Individual.
As well as the 10.25-inch driver display, at the top of the centre console is the 14-inch central touchscreen, and the MBUX Superscreen is also available, which adds a second 14-inch display for the front-seat passenger, creating a screen which extends across the entire width of the interior.
The current touchscreen features shortcut buttons at the bottom, which can be personalised. The overall infotainment system feels high-tech but also complex compared to some rivals. Mercedes would prefer you to use the MBUX Virtual Assistant with the latest voice control functionality to interact with the car; thankfully this seems to work well compared to some earlier versions of this technology.
The new CLA is the first vehicle to fully operate on the in-house developed Mercedes-Benz Operating System (MB.OS). The new AI-enhanced system enables regular over-the-air updates for the most important vehicle functions, including driving assistance systems for the first time.
The Mercedes-Benz CLA Shooting Brake 250+ Electric AMG Line, as tested, has an official WLTP combined electric driving range of 426 miles. This can be as much as 469 miles with some CLA 250+ electric Shooting Brake trim levels. The CLA 350 4MATIC electric Shooting Brake delivers up to 451 miles, and the CLA 200 electric Shooting Brake has a range of up to 321 miles. Consumption (WLTP) ranges from 4.2 to 4.8 miles/kWh, which is very efficient.
A key factor in the CLA’s efficiency is the very slippery drag coefficient of 0.21, as well as the two-speed transmission that aids performance and efficiency.
The CLA is also the first Mercedes-Benz vehicle to feature an air-to-air ‘multi-source’ heat pump, which is standard. This technology can use three energy sources in parallel: the waste heat from the electric drivetrain, the battery, and the ambient air. This requires only about one-third of the electrical energy that a comparable auxiliary heater would need for the same output, assisting with efficiency.
The CLA has an impressive ultra-rapid charging rate of 320 kW which can enable a 10% to 80% DC charge in 22 minutes, or 200 miles of range can be added in just ten minutes. It can also AC charge at 11 kW, when a 0-100% charge should take 9 hours.
The CLA’s 800-volt electrical system means that charging times at 800V ultra-rapid charging stations are reduced. However it’s important to note that you can’t use most 50kW–150kW 400V DC public rapid chargers in the UK because the car doesn’t have an onboard DC-to-DC voltage converter. If you want to have access to all rapid and ultra-rapid DC chargers in the UK, you need to pay an extra £850 for a 400V-to-800V DC converter, enabling it to use 400V DC rapid chargers.
The Mercedes-Benz CLA Shooting Brake 250+ Electric AMG Line is priced at £53,450. Our test car had the options of MANUFAKTUR Patagonia Red Metallic paint (£825), Direct Current Charging System 400V (£850) and trailer coupling with ESP trailer stabilisation (£950), taking the price to £56,075.
The Mercedes-Benz CLA Shooting Brake Electric is available in five trim levels, from £40,150, with rear-wheel drive or all-wheel drive, as follows:
Sport
CLA 200 electric Shooting Brake
CLA 250+ electric Shooting Brake
Sport Executive
CLA 200 electric Shooting Brake
CLA 250+ electric Shooting Brake
AMG Line Executive
CLA 200 electric Shooting Brake
CLA 250+ electric Shooting Brake
CLA 350 4MATIC electric Shooting Brake
AMG Line Premium
CLA 200 electric Shooting Brake
CLA 250+ electric Shooting Brake
CLA 350 4MATIC electric Shooting Brake
AMG Line Premium Plus
CLA 200 electric Shooting Brake
CLA 250+ electric Shooting Brake
CLA 350 4MATIC electric Shooting Brake
The Mercedes-Benz CLA Shooting Brake offers a slightly larger boot than the saloon, but with much better access to the luggage space thanks to the tailgate. Pretty much everything else is shared with the saloon. That means it has an excellent driving experience, a very long range, and a stylish and high-tech interior. As is typically the case with cars featuring a Mercedes badge, there will be rivals at lower prices. And note that although the CLA is capable of very fast top-ups at 800V ultra-rapid chargers, if you want to use most 50kW-150kW 400V DC public rapid chargers in the UK you’ll have to pay an extra £850 for the on-board charging technology to do this. The Mercedes-Benz CLA Shooting Brake is awarded a Green Car Guide rating of 9 out of 10.
Drive an EV for less than you think with Select Car Leasing 
Save 20-50% on an EV through salary sacrifice with The Electric Car Scheme 
ClearWatt supports buyers, sellers and owners of EVs with app-based battery health testing and detailed EV data insights available for every used EV in the UK. Take the stress out of buying a used EV with ClearWatt and save 10% on all their products with promo code “GCG10”. 
Zapmap: UK's No.1 EV charging points app 2025. Zapmap helps EV drivers search for EV chargers, plan longer journeys and pay for charging. 
With Pod, you're in good hands. With over 15 years of EV charging experience, drivers trust Pod to keep their EVs charged and ready to go. 
Paul Clarke, GreenCarGuide Editor
