MERCEDES-BENZ CLA

Long-range electric four-door coupé tests its mettle on UK roads

- STEVE CROPLEY

The new Mercedes CLA is already becoming familiar. We've been seeing positive reviews from foreign parts since midyear and, as you read this, the company is in its fifth week of selling the model in the UK, having been anxious to reduce a very solid backlog of orders - a problem more EV sellers doubtless wish they had. What no one has done until now is report on a CLA drive in this country, where road surfaces are notably different from other countries in Europe. So on the first day of test car availability, we took a single-motor, rear-drive CLA 250+, likely to be the most popular version here, and drove it on familiar roads to see how it fared against rivals. Details of the CLA's impressive specifications are well known: it boasts leading powertrain efficiency brought by a two-speed gearbox that holds its lower ratio until about 65mph, when at a steady cruise you can just feel the higher ratio kick in to lengthen gearing and preserve energy. This