Mercedes-Benz has managed to put together a series of competent, quick, and undeniably luxurious all-electric EQ sedans and SUVs. But as praise-worthy as their road manners and extensive feature offerings may be, nobody is rushing to call them pretty. Without some elegance to back it up, how impressive can the three-pointed star really be?
For its next generation of EVs, Mercedes is looking to right the EQ lineup’s aesthetic wrongs and unite the company’s design philosophy across both fossil fuel and battery-electric portfolios. Spurring this change along is a new the new MMA platform. It supports both ICE and EV configurations, affording designers the opportunity to produce a single, cohesive design for each model line regardless of its power source.
The prototype photographed here still bears the unmistakable silhouette of a drag-optimized electric sedan, but even with the camouflage, we can see that the company’s designers have managed to chisel away at some of the Dustbuster-esque elements that characterized its current crop of four-door electric cars. Instead, what we see here carries many of the same cues found on the new Mercedes-Benz CLA, which is also hitting the market in both ICE and battery-powered variants.
The characteristic high butt/low nose stance of the EQ sedans is muted here, though the pedestrian-safe hood and its correspondingly blunted nose bring a touch of that character to the new offering, but it’s not nearly as dramatic as the execution on the EQE and EQS. Curiously, our spies tell us that this sedan offers a liftback, rather than a traditional trunk. We’re curious to see what that does for the rear end once the camo has been removed.
If the CLA is any indication, the electric C-Class will likely offer far more sensible powertrains than some of those we’ve seen on high-end EVs. The CLA 350 4Matic will offer a combined 349 hp and 380 pound-feet of torque, while the 250+ variant will have just 268 horsepower and 247 lb-ft of torque. While fairly tame numbers-wise, they still offer pony-car-like performance, with the CLA 350 4Matic hitting 60 in just 4.8 seconds.
Given the advanced state of this prototype and the imminent release of its CLA platform-mate, we expect it won’t be long before we see the new C-Class EV for real.
Do you know where something strange or interesting is being tested on public roads? Let us know at [email protected].
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