New Mercedes C-Class Electric ride review: hard to find fault with superb EV

Verdict

At a time of enormous change for motorists and carmakers alike, the Mercedes C-Class Electric should offer a sense of familiarity to loyal customers of Stuttgart’s executive saloon, even though everything feels like it’s been elevated to a higher plane. Its handling and agility are remarkable – from the passenger seat at least – while comfort, quality and technology on-board are top-notch. 

Mercedes and BMW are moving almost in lockstep at the moment. Last year, the German powerhouses introduced their latest design language and next-generation electric-car technology with a show-stopping mid-size SUV. Now both are applying those advances to their world-famous compact saloons, the C-Class and 3 Series, continuing their decades-long feud.

The first-ever all-electric Mercedes C-Class is going to be unveiled towards the end of April, about a month behind BMW’s new i3. But just days before its arch-rival is to be revealed, we took a trip over to Immendingen, Germany – Mercedes’ testing facility and personal playground – to ride shotgun in the three-pointed star’s counterstrike. 

It’s interesting to see that as BMW redefines everything about its cars, Mercedes is intent on embracing the familiar. The visionary, but very computer mouse-like, designs of the EQS and EQE saloons have been scrapped, with the C-Class Electric – which will be the car’s official name, by the way – instead opting for a more traditional shape, including a long bonnet stretching out in front of the driver. 

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Mercedes has also ditched its bespoke EV strategy, and will eventually offer combustion and electric versions of its long-established models, right the way up to the flagship S-Class limo. These will be sold side-by-side and should look almost identical. 

However, at launch it’ll be very easy to tell the C-Class Electric apart from the existing combustion-powered model, because Mercedes has already teased that it’s getting the same polarising illuminated grille as the GLC Electric. We’ve been told it is steadily going to make its way on to more of the brand’s models, so you’d better get used to it. Thankfully, the bug-zapper grille, with its hundreds of LEDs, was covered by camouflage and cladding on the late-stage prototypes we got to ride in.

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More importantly, the C-Class Electric is not mechanically related to the combustion version. Underneath is Mercedes’ latest EV-dedicated architecture called MB.EA, which features 800-volt technology for ultra-rapid charging and a two-speed transmission like the Porsche Taycan, which helps to improve both efficiency and performance. In addition, cars on this platform can be fitted with the intelligent air suspension and 4.5-degree rear-wheel steering system from the recently updated S-Class. 

We begin on the open road, with Ewald Dirks – the man responsible for testing all of Mercedes’ mid-size models – at the helm. He boldly calls the C-Class Electric the sportiest iteration of the saloon yet, and he’s keen to prove it, flicking the car into Sport mode almost immediately and hustling it on some smooth, but windy, back roads. We’re taken aback, but not by massive power or stupefying acceleration – it’s the fact that we can’t feel any body roll or movement as we flow between the corners that is particularly striking.

The C-Class has long been the sportier saloon in Mercedes’ line-up, and the engineers worked to make the electric version as agile and dynamic as possible in order to not make it feel as heavy as it actually is behind the wheel. Hopefully we’ll get to experience this for ourselves later this year. 

We then switch to Comfort mode, which softens things up as you’d expect, but the C-Class remains very composed over some of the more uneven roads we come across and, impressively, while cornering too. Dirks explains that the air suspension system automatically adjusts to suit the road you’re on or the speed you’re going, for instance, becoming stiffer when on twisty roads and cruising at high speeds on the autobahn to reduce body movement. 

It’s even cleverer than that, though. The suspension system is connected to the cloud and receives data from certain other Mercedes models about potholes or other major imperfections in the road ahead, allowing it to increase the damping to improve the ride comfort in anticipation of you driving over them.

Meanwhile, the incredibly smooth regenerative braking includes the option of one-pedal driving that gracefully brings the car to complete stop, and Mercedes has also done a lot to make the cabin a tranquil place. The only slight intrusion on our test route was some road noise; there was no wind noise or any whining from the electric motors. There are options for synthesised noises to accompany the driving experience should you wish, but they’re more subtle than those in some other EVs we’ve encountered. 

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As we gently return to base, we get a chance to admire the interior, which we’re not allowed to show you at this stage. Unsurprisingly it’s virtually identical to that of the electric GLC, with a single screen spanning the entire dashboard, while surrounding it in our AMG Line prototype is an impressive combination of leather, carbon fibre-effect trim and ambient lighting.

We’re not done yet, though. A driver change sees Dirk Creuzberger, Mercedes’ chassis tuning expert, take the wheel and we head past even more top-secret prototypes towards the firm’s private test track to see what the car can really do. Not that anyone is ever going to take an electric C-Class to a track, but when in Immendingen, why not? 

Unburdened by speed limits or fear of ramblers wandering out in front of us, we hurtle down the straights at more than 125mph, with the C-Class gaining speed like it’s falling out of bed, yet the acceleration is absolutely effortless, not violent as with some electric cars. The suspension manages to minimise any diving as we brake hard. 

The C-Class feels neutral and balanced here. Only once or twice did we feel the rear of the car pushing out slightly around the corners, but it always does so in a controlled manner, all the while the tyres screaming for mercy as Creuzberger casually throws the approximately 2.5-tonne saloon into the tight turns of the track at some speed. 

While Mercedes wouldn’t confirm any technical details for the C-Class Electric just yet, we assume it will launch with the same powertrain that the electric GLC did. If so, that means two motors providing all-wheel drive, 482bhp and 800Nm of torque, which we can attest is more than enough.

Meanwhile the large 94.5kWh battery should provide around 450 miles of range, as it’s good for a little over 400 miles in the SUV, although we’re expecting the BMW i3 to be able to cover about 100 miles further. At least with a maximum charging speed of 330kW, a 10 to 80 per cent top-up should take close to 20 minutes, as with the BMW. 

Overall, the new electric version of the Mercedes C-Class will deliver an even greater range between comfort and sportiness, plus impressive technical capabilities, which should keep the BMW i3 on its toes. 

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