Header: Courtesy of Mercedes-AMG
Mercedes-AMG has launched the new CLA 45 4MATIC+, an all-electric compact that reaches 100 km/h from a standstill in 2.7 seconds. Such numbers put it comfortably in supercar territory, yet the car itself looks like your typical Mercedes for the common, if high-end, buyer. It comes from Affalterbach, the small German town where AMG builds its performance cars, and was presented to the public at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July of 2026.
The vision behind the machine
The car is based on the Mercedes-Benz CLA, which was named European Car of the Year 2026 and scored the best result of any car tested by Euro NCAP, the independent safety body, in 2025. AMG’s task was, then, to take this well-mannered base and turn it into something aimed at a younger buyer who wants genuine performance. The answer was to borrow the drive technology from the far larger and more expensive AMG GT 4-Door Coupé and fit it into a compact body.
Three motors and a long range
Instead of one electric motor, the CLA 45 uses three: two on the rear axle and one at the front, together producing up to 500 kW, or 680 horsepower. They are axial flux motors, a design in which the magnetic forces run along the motor’s axis rather than around it. The practical result is that each motor is shaped like a flat disc rather than a cylinder, delivering more power from far less space. The front motor is nine centimetres wide, while the rear pair measure around eight.
Because each motor works independently, the car can decide in fractions of a second where its power goes. It can send everything to the rear wheels, split it between front and rear, or even apportion it between the left and right rear wheels, a technique known as torque vectoring that helps the car rotate through corners. The front motor mostly rests, disconnecting itself to save energy and reconnecting only when extra thrust or grip is needed.
Energy comes from a 94 kWh battery, good for over 670 kilometres of range in the saloon or 640 in the Shooting Brake. The car runs on an 800-volt electrical system, double the industry norm, which allows thinner cables and much faster charging: 10 to 80% takes 22 minutes, and ten minutes adds over 270 kilometres. A heat pump warms the battery to its ideal temperature before a charging stop, since batteries charge fastest when neither cold nor hot.
An exterior designed for performance
The new version was given the brand’s signature grille, ten vertical chrome bars framing the central star, and deliberately hides the light strip that connects the headlamps on the standard CLA. Widened front wings make for a wider front axle, and a glass roof runs from the windscreen to the rear, coated with an ultra-thin film that reflects heat while letting light through.
The Saloon has an active rear spoiler, and the Shooting Brake a roof spoiler, both of which only extend when needed, adjusting their angle to either pin the car to the road or reduce drag and stretch the range. Shutters behind the front grille work in a similar way, as they stay closed at speeds up to 250 km/h to smooth the airflow and open only when the mechanicals need cooling air.
Inside: four seats and a deliberate shake
The cabin is a four-seater, as mentioned, with contoured sports seats, red stitching and steel pedals, trimmed in synthetic leather and microfibre with optional leather in brown, green-accented or yellow-flashed versions. The infotainment runs the fourth generation of MBUX, Mercedes’ onboard system, which now integrates artificial intelligence from ChatGPT, Microsoft and Google and can hold multi-part conversations through an animated on-screen assistant.
The oddest feature is that the car imitates a petrol AMG when in a driving mode called AMGFORCE S+: the seats vibrate like an idling engine, the displays show a rev counter, and the powertrain simulates gear changes the driver can trigger with steering-wheel paddles. To achieve the perfect sound, AMG’s engineers placed 13 microphones around a petrol A 45 S and recorded more than 1,600 audio samples, which the car remixes in real time to match whatever the driver is doing.
Technology for the track
Up to seven driving modes adjust everything from suspension firmness to how eagerly the accelerator responds, ranging from a range-maximising ECO setting to a RACE mode with launch control. For circuit days, the built-in AMG TRACK PACE software records over 80 measurements ten times per second, shows braking points on the head-up display and comes preloaded with circuits such as the Nürburgring and Spa-Francorchamps.
Braking, meanwhile, mostly happens without the brakes. The motors slow the car by working in reverse, feeding energy back into the battery, and can bring it to a complete stop this way. The conventional steel discs, sized for track use, step in only for emergencies and hard circuit driving.
