Following the debut of the Mercedes-Benz CLA, the German carmaker has now unveiled the all-new Mercedes-Benz CLA Shooting Brake. Essentially the estate version of the third-generation CLA, the all-new Shooting Brake variant shares the same quirky front grille, which contains 142 individually illuminated Mercedes-Benz stars – but there are also so many more three-pointed stars than just those on the grille.
There’s the new illuminated panoramic glass roof, with 158 stars embedded into the surface; the dashboard – if optioned without the passenger display – also comes with tens, if not hundreds, of additional stars. Even the voice assistant’s graphic is also a three-pointed star, and as you can already see from the photos, the headlight and tail light graphics are also – yes, you guessed it – Mercedes-Benz stars. How many is too many, really?
Anyway, we digress. The key difference here, obviously, is the Shooting Brake body style. According to Mercedes-Benz, the new roofline enables more headroom for all passengers, while the longer wheelbase compared to the previous model allows for a more spacious interior.
Thanks to larger door cut-outs, access to the rear seats is also easier, which should make for simpler installation of bulky child seats. For boot space, the CLA Shooting Brake provides 455 litres (up from 405 litres in the sedan), expandable to 1,290 litres by folding the seats down. Similar to the Sedan, the Shooting Brake – in pure electric form – is also equipped with a 101 litre “frunk” under the bonnet.
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Other exterior equipment here includes standard-equipped roof rails with a 75 kg capacity, complementing the towing rating of up to 1,800 kg. The panoramic glass roof features an infrared-reflecting coating to cut down on heat ingress, and can also be optioned with an electrochromic function – in addition to the aforementioned illuminated star pattern.
Inside, the Mercedes-Benz CLA Shooting Brake is equipped with the same striking interior up front. This sees a single vertical glass panel housing a segmented 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster, a 14-inch central display, and another optional 14-inch screen in front of the passenger.
Like the sedan, the all-new Mercedes-Benz CLA Shooting Brake debuts with two all-electric powertrains, of which their names certainly live up to the stereotype of long German naming conventions: the CLA250+ Shooting Brake with EQ Technology and the CLA350 4Matic Shooting Brake with EQ Technology, officially.
On the CLA250+, it is equipped with a rear-mounted electric motor with a two-speed gearbox that produces 272 hp (200 kW) and 335 Nm of torque, which enables 0-100 km/h in 6.8 seconds and a top speed of 210 km/h.
Paired to an 85 kWh nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) battery pack, the CLA250+ has a range of 761 km (WLTP). Thanks to the 800V architecture, the CLA250+ can support AC charging at 22 kW and DC charging at 320 kW, the latter enabling the CLA250+ to regain 310 km of range with a 10-minute recharge.
The more powerful CLA350 4Matic variant, meanwhile, adds a front-mounted electric motor for an all-wheel-drive setup, boosting total system output to 354 hp (260 kW) and 515 Nm. This shortens the 0-100 km/h time to a flat 5.0 seconds, while the top speed remains the same at 210 km/h.
Equipped with the same 85 kWh NMC battery pack, the range of the CLA350 4Matic is rated at 730 km (WLTP). It shares the same charging specifications as the CLA250+, which translates to 300 km of added range within 10 minutes of plugging in.
Like its sedan sibling, the CLA Shooting Brake will also receive a petrol-powered variant, which will be available early next year. This is likely to feature a 48V mild-hybrid powertrain featuring a new 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine paired with an electric motor integrated into an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission.
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