New CLA can't use 1,000s of UK EV chargers

REVEALED New Mercedes will not be offered with a 400-volt DC converter, meaning it won't work with most UK rapid chargers

- Tom Jervis

NO, the headline isn't clickbait; the new Mercedes CLA is incompatible with the majority of UK public electric car chargers, because the firm has scrimped on incorporating a 400-volt DC converter. Without this feature, the new CLA that was revealed back in March is unable to use many of the 14,000 rapid public chargepoints around the country.

The new CLA is being offered in hybrid and fully electric forms, with the latter sitting on bespoke 800-volt EV underpinnings. While older EVs using 400-volt tech can plug-in and use most electric-car chargers with no issue, those with 800-volt architecture must incorporate a converter to adjust the voltage of the incoming electricity so it matches the car's battery and other systems.

Look at the CLA configurator on the official Mercedes-Benz UK website and it clearly states: “Please note that charging is not possible at 400-volt charging stations”. This all but confirms that the CLA will not get a 400-volt converter.

Without this, the CLA will be blocked out of the vast majority of UK public rapid chargers. Newer, faster, 800-volt EV chargers are beginning to crop up across Europe, but there are only a limited number of these here in the UK, with most chargers using 400-volt tech.

There is no official line on why Mercedes decided to ditch a 400-volt converter for the new CLA, but it may well have been done for cost-cutting reasons. The CLA starts from a touch more than £45,000, and the brand envisages owners mostly charging at home using wallboxes based on slower AC technology, or ultra-fast 800-volt DC chargers on the road as more eventually get rolled out.