Mercedes-Benz CLA
Charging curve · consumption · motorway range
The Mercedes-Benz CLA has 85 kWh of usable battery and peaks at 353 kW on a DC charger. In this app's model it uses about 150 Wh/km at a steady 100 km/h and 218 Wh/km at 130, so 45% more energy per kilometre buys you 30 km/h more speed. Weigh that against a 19-minute 10-80% charging stop and you have the whole question of how fast to drive.
- Usable battery
- 85 kWh
- Peak DC power
- 353 kW
- 10-80% charge
- 19 min
- Average kW 10-80%
- 185 kW
- Mass, loaded
- 2255 kg
- Top speed
- 209 km/h
DC charging curve
Charging power against state of charge, on a charger fast enough not to be the limit. Peak power is 353 kW, but it has halved by about 58% state of charge. That is why a short stop low down the curve usually beats a long one near the top.
How long a stop takes
| Charge from | Time | Energy added | Average power |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10% to 80% | 19 min | 59.5 kWh | 185 kW |
| 20% to 80% | 18 min | 51.0 kWh | 172 kW |
| 10% to 60% | 10 min | 42.5 kWh | 261 kW |
| 20% to 70% | 12 min | 42.5 kWh | 210 kW |
| 80% to 100% | 25 min | 17.0 kWh | 41 kW |
The curve, point by point
| State of charge | Power |
|---|---|
| 0% | 106 kW |
| 5% | 318 kW |
| 10% | 353 kW |
| 35% | 353 kW |
| 45% | 261 kW |
| 55% | 191 kW |
| 65% | 141 kW |
| 75% | 99 kW |
| 85% | 64 kW |
| 95% | 39 kW |
| 100% | 18 kW |
Consumption and range by cruise speed
Steady motorway cruising on flat road in mild weather, from the fitted model Wh/km = 52 + 0.0098 · v². The “usable range” column is the honest one for trip planning: it is 100% down to 10%, because nobody arrives on empty.
| Cruise speed | Consumption | Range (full pack) | Usable range (100 to 10%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 90 km/h | 131 Wh/km | 647 km | 582 km |
| 100 km/h | 150 Wh/km | 567 km | 510 km |
| 110 km/h | 171 Wh/km | 498 km | 448 km |
| 120 km/h | 193 Wh/km | 440 km | 396 km |
| 130 km/h | 218 Wh/km | 391 km | 352 km |
| 140 km/h | 244 Wh/km | 348 km | 313 km |
| 150 km/h | 273 Wh/km | 312 km | 281 km |
| 160 km/h | 303 Wh/km | 281 km | 253 km |
What the model does not include
- Elevation. The trip planner does account for climbs and descents; the range figures on this page are flat-road, so an alpine route will come out worse than the table.
- Temperature. These are mild-weather numbers. Cold raises consumption and cuts the charging curve. The planner models both. The numbers on this page do not.
- Wind, rain, roof boxes, payload and tyre choice, all of which move real consumption more than most people expect.
- Charger-side limits. The charging times above assume the site can deliver whatever the car asks for. A 150 kW cabinet shared with the car next to you will not.
Where these numbers come from
Mercedes CLA Shooting Brake 250+ (2025-2026) on the 800 V MMA platform: the fastest-charging and most efficient car in this catalog, at 18 minutes for 10-80% and a Cd that puts its quadratic term below every European entry bar the Ioniq 6. Sources disagree on the peak: Mercedes markets "up to 320 kW" and EV Database measures 353. The higher figure is used here, so treat the very top of the curve as the least certain part of it. Fitted to the published 10-80% time.
This curve is modelled from published charging tests rather than digitised from a measured session, so read the stop times as an estimate.
What speed should you actually drive?
It depends on your route, on where the fast chargers happen to be and how the legal limits fall. Plan the real trip and the simulator will sweep every cruise speed against this car's curves and tell you which one arrives first.
Plan a trip in the CLA