The thing about electric vehicle charging is that you can't always charge at the fastest rate, so the electronics for charging cars work in a way that means you don't have to. It's why you can plug your 350 kW EV into a 50 kW Level 3 plug, or plug your 50 kW EV into a 350 kW plug. It makes charging simple.
Unless, that is, you have a Mercedes-Benz CLA. For some reason, Mercedes-Benz has made the choice that its fast-charging new model is not able to use a 400V station, cutting it off from a massive number of public charging sites.
No Voltage Converter Means Very Limited Charging
Wards Auto spotted the small print on the Mercedes-Benz online car configurator. The CLA EV listing comes with the following note: "Please note that charging at 400V charging stations is not possible, and for this reason, they are not shown in the navigation system."
While the report covered just three countries in Europe, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, CarBuzz reached out to Mercedes-Benz USA to find out if the tech would be the same for U.S.-spec cars. The answer was that the new CLA would not have 400V charging capability when it arrives in the U.S..
"The new CLA launches with the new electric architecture from Mercedes-Benz and is based on a newly developed, efficient, and powerful 800V technology. This can be used to enable a powerful and equally efficient charging process at 800V DC-fast-charging stations, whose share in the entire charging network is constantly increasing."
The spokesperson confirmed that 400V DC charging was not possible. The CLA can charge at 320 kW, which is quicker than 400V-capable cars, but comes with some issues. Mainly, the ability to find a charge site and know if it will work until you plug in.
