The world has come a long way from the first mass production electric cars like the first Nissan Leaf and its 160km of range, with the latest Mercedes-Benz CLA offering a WLTP-rated range of 792km. Its these big improvements in range that Mercedes-Benz Chief Technology Officer Markus Schäfer wondering how much range buyers actually need.

“I think that [the new electric CLA’s range of almost] 800km is a great offering, and it’s achievable in real life too. Now thanks to latest in battery technology, regardless of weather, we’re seeing higher ranges than ever before,” he said.

“The question is: do we really need more than 800km of range? And you have way faster charging than before too. That’s something we’re going to figure out with our customers, if they want and need more than that.”

Asked how much more range Mercedes-Benz could get out of current technology EV products, Schäfer said that battery and efficiency improvements were what the company is currently exploring versus simply adding more battery.

“Of course, you can push the battery cells up, the battery sizes up and add more range, but do customers actually need that? That also adds weight, charging time and cost to both us and the customer. You can have a 200kWh battery for over 1000km of range, but the cost and weight would be too high.”

As with today’s model lineup, the brand will still offer a wide range of drivetrains in the future, and while there will still be customers who want the maximum range possible, the company is predicting that the majority will choose mid-range batteries instead.

“I think for mainstream, volume models that 600km is the sweet spot for most people and that take range in this sort of segment [the CLA] would be most popular. But there are still customers who want the 800km range. Today you have a C 180, a C 400, a C 43 and so on, a broad offering, but the highest take rate will take happen between 500km – 600km.”

The biggest factor influencing which drivetrain is chosen, according to Schäfer, is charging infrastructure and how much charging speeds have improved.

“People may still choose 500km of range from their car, but 500km of range today is not the same as 500km of range even five years ago thanks to charging speed improvements – the CLA can now add 325km of range in just 10 minutes of charging, for example, so why choose the longest range?”

The next-generation CLA, with both hybrid and fully electric drivetrains, will launch in Australia
sometime in 2026.