How Mercedes-Benz Is Recharging Luxury EVs

Northern Sweden is not a place to visit lightly, regardless of season. Hit it in the temperate summer months, and you’ll be faced with clouds of mosquitoes so thick they darken the skies. The bugs are gone in the winter months, but then it’s the lack of sun that keeps things dim. Dim and legendarily cold.

That cold has turned the Lapland region of Sweden into the ultimate playground for prototype vehicle testing. The frigid temps put the best-engineered vehicles to the test, while the snow-covered roads challenge the traction of the best drivetrains. 

When that’s not slippery enough, engineers head to one of the thousands of frozen lakes, which is exactly where I got my first go behind the wheel of a pre-production Mercedes-Benz CLA. When this new electric CLA enters production later this year, it will mark the beginning of a new generation of EVs for the company.

Mercedes-Benz already offers a wealth of electric offerings, from the humble EQB SUV to the positively opulent Mercedes-Maybach EQS SUV. The upcoming CLA sedan won’t make those machines obsolete. Still, it does show that the best is yet to come, delivering significant improvements that deliver longer range, faster charging, and better performance in future Benz EVs. The tech seen here will spread to a new generation of sedans, SUVs, plus something significantly bigger. 

New Battery Beginnings

It starts with an improved battery pack. Mercedes isn’t completely rebooting the design that currently powers the EQE and EQS. However, revised components like graphite anodes with silicon oxides plus tweaked chemistry increase energy density by 20 percent while also reducing reliance on problematic (and pricey) materials like cobalt. The result is a battery that is, pound-for-pound, more powerful, and eco-friendly.

That battery is charged by a new electrical architecture built around a silicon carbide (SiC) inverter. This technology enables faster, more efficient charging. It’s an 800-volt architecture with a maximum charging rate of 320 kW. That’s a lot of juice, enough to add 186 miles of range to the CLA in just 10 minutes. 

The CLA is estimated to do some 466 miles on a single charge of its 85 kWh battery pack. Mercedes’ current electric sedan, the EQE, goes 308 miles on a charge of its 96-kWh battery pack. Way more range from a much smaller battery is good news for anyone suffering from range anxiety.

Other Tech Tweaks

It’s not just the battery enabling that kind of range. Mercedes engineers have also tweaked their electric motor design, putting a two-speed transmission on the rear axle of the CLA so that it delivers better acceleration at higher speeds and better efficiency overall.

There’s also a new braking system that more smoothly and efficiently relies on the electric motors to slow the car down, only calling on the physical brakes when needed. So, when it’s time to stop accelerating and start slowing down, the car can better turn its momentum into energy. 

And finally, Mercedes has a radically improved heat pump. This new module can pull thermal energy from the heat of the electric motors, battery pack, and ambient air. Mercedes engineers told me that this new system is not only twice as efficient as the heat pumps in the company’s current EVs, but it’s able to warm their cars’ cabins twice as quickly.

On Ice

This brings us back to Sweden and me sliding a pre-production CLA sideways around a frozen lake. I was toasty and warm, yes, with both seat and steering wheel heaters firing, but I was also grinning ear-to-ear. The two-motor setup on the CLA meant I had all four wheels biting for grip on the lake’s surface, throwing up a big cloud of snow and ice behind me.

The all-wheel-drive CLA makes 107 horsepower from its front motor and 268 from the rear, meaning around 375 horsepower total. That was plenty enough for it to accelerate strongly even on the slick surface, and thanks to that two-speed transmission, it was still pulling hard to 100 mph when I started running out of room to accelerate.

I also got to drive an earlier pre-production version of the company’s electric GLC SUV. Though larger in every dimension, the GLC shares many of the same improvements, including the braking system.

Sometimes when driving EVs or hybrids, it can be difficult to stop the car precisely. The initial press of the brake pedal is vague and unresponsive as the car relies on the recuperative power of the electric motors. Then, when you push your foot a little farther, the car lurches to a stop when the physical brakes come into action.

This new system handles all that in the background, calculating and recalculating how to best deliver the deceleration you’re requesting. The bigger GLC braked smoothly to a stop on incredibly rough and uneven surfaces.

The GLC made quick work of accelerating, too, even up slick inclines on a mountain pass that Mercedes had reserved for our use. When the snow got deep, a quick tap on the touchscreen lifted the GLC’s air suspension by an inch, giving plenty of clearance to handle some thoroughly rutted-out sections.

A Luxury Van?

The CLA and GLC prototypes were impressive, but it was a quick run around a closed course in something else that really blew my mind. It’s a next-generation van platform that promises to be unlike anything we’ve seen before.

I’ve driven the Sprinter and other Mercedes vans in the past, and while they’re nice when compared to other big commercial vans, they offer little of the refinement found in Mercedes’ luxury cars. With this new electric van platform, called VAN.EA, that all changes.

The van I drove was incredibly smooth, even when charging over rough surfaces. It was quiet, too, despite having virtually no interior trim. 

Why is this significant? Because Mercedes has something special in store. Dr. Andreas Zygan, head of development at Mercedes-Benz Vans, told me how vehicle upfitters in China are making a killing by taking Mercedes’ current industrial vans and turning them into limousines.

“Somebody else buys it from us, turns it into a luxurious version, maybe with different seats, a different interior, or a big screen, or something like that. And then they sell it at a much higher price to our customers,” he said. 

Pay enough, and you can even get a Chinese-made luxury van festooned with Maybach logos, the symbol normally reserved for Mercedes’ most luxurious cars. That’s despite Mercedes having absolutely nothing to do with them. This, Dr. Zygan said, is proof that there’s interest in a higher-end, luxury van, which could be built on this new electric platform.

I asked if that might mean Mercedes would build an official Maybach van someday.

“No comment,” he said.

Watch this space for more, but whether it’s a van, SUV, or the company’s more traditional luxury sedans, Mercedes-Benz’s revised EV technology looks set to raise the bar in range and refinement. Will it be enough to woo EV-skeptical consumers? Mercedes is certainly still bullish on electric cars, but it’s hedging its bets to some degree. Both the CLA and the next-generation vans will be available as hybrids, too.

This article was written by Tim Stevens and was first seen on Worth.com

About the Author – Tim Stevens

Tim Stevens is a freelance automotive and technology journalist with more than 25 years of experience. He is a frequent contributor to major domestic and international online, print, and broadcast news outlets including MotorTrend, TechCrunch, Wired, CBS and the AP, sharing his insights and perspectives on everything from cybersecurity to supercars.

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