This is the first all-electric Mercedes-Benz C-Class, and it gets 473 miles of range

So, recreation on. After BMW wowed us all with its game-changing iX3 – a TG Car of the Year – and adopted it up with the pretty i3 saloon, Merc has hit again: after the GLC Electric comes this, the first ever battery-powered Mercedes-Benz C-Class.

And the headline stat for a lot of of you may be its range, as a result of… it nonetheless falls quick of the BMW. Mercedes quotes as much as 473 miles obtainable from a single cost of its 94kWh battery, which eager electrical automotive fans will be aware is smaller than the battery Munich has stuffed inside the i3.

The headline for the relaxation of you? How it appears. This electrical C-Class carries the newest iteration of Merc’s design language, and for its half stated the automotive’s “coupe like silhouette” and “expressive GT rear” ends in “elegance with impressive charisma”.

It’s actually aerodynamic, and there’s a familial resemblance too as a result of it mainly appears like a shrunken, swoopier GLC Electric. Mercedes has all the time leaned into its expertise of course, and visually that’s represented by a minimum of 1,050 illuminated dots dominating that new grille.

Inside, the (elective) MBUX Hyperscreen completely dominates the inside. Largely as a result of it’s… giant. Massive, actually. No lower than a 39.1in high-res whopper spanning the total width of the cabin, with backlighting and 1,000+ LEDs. It’s the largest display screen ever fitted inside a Mercedes C-Class and, yep, we agree.

Another possibility is the MBUX Superscreen, a relatively puny setup that glues three screens collectively underneath a glass floor. Both of course might be adjusted greater than you’ll ever want in any lifetime, and a minimum of there’s everlasting entry to temperature management.

AI can have everlasting entry to you, by way of All Of The AI. Much like the relaxation of the world, Mercedes has by no means seen The Terminator and has determined to bundle in ChatGPT-4o, Microsoft Bing, and Google Gemini inside the new C in a “multi-agent approach”. It stated three AI companies are higher capable of adapt to your each want, making it a lot simpler for it to request your garments, your boots, and your motorbike.

Saying that, a cool bit of welcome tech is the 3D augmented actuality sat nav pinched from the S-Class and EQS. Elsewhere there’s distance management as normal, a phalanx of sensors and cameras (27!), and the possibility of lane change and drive help (a bit of self-driving assist, mainly).

Oh proper, driving. It is a automotive, in spite of everything, not a chromed-out pill with a Mercedes badge. Much like the GLC, Merc boasts “S-Class-like ride comfort”, although additionally stated this new electrical C-Class is a minimum of the sportiest C-Class ever constructed.

There’s a model with a single electrical motor on the rear axle and a brand new two-speed gearbox, and a model with motors on the entrance and again, the place the entrance one acts as a booster and disengages when not wanted.

Powerful brakes, too, Merc claiming you’ll be able to sluggish it down in just about any situation – together with when the ABS has been triggered – utilizing solely recuperation, at as much as 300kW. “In principle,” stated Merc, “the all-new electric C-Class can even brake electrically to a standstill, thus recovering kinetic energy.”

There’s an ordinary passive suspension setup – utilizing what Mercedes calls “fast-acting amplitude-selective” dampers – or adaptive air suspension (‘Airmatic’). Both declare “outstanding” journey consolation, and if it’s wherever close to pretty much as good as the setup on the GLC – which it will likely be – it’ll be an exceedingly comfy automotive.

And quick once you need it to be. The C 400 4MATIC is the range-topper, with 483bhp, a 0-62mph time of 4.0s, and that headline 473 miles of range. Find a 330kW charger, and because of the new C’s 800V tech, you’ll be able to hose in 202 miles of range in simply 10 minutes.

So, nonetheless quick of the i3… although Mercedes won’t let BMW off the hook that simply. Because subsequent 12 months, Mercedes will reveal extra iterations of the electrical C-Class with extra battery choices, together with a rear-wheel-drive model that units the “benchmark in the electric mid-size saloon segment”.

That automotive will include “approximately 800 kilometres” of range. That’s… oh, proper, nonetheless quick of the i3. But an enormous quantity of driving regardless. Game on.