Mercedes-AMG put 680 horsepower in a CLA, then wired the cabin to play a recorded A 45 S so it sounds like a four-cylinder. Speakers, not a tailpipe. The July 9, 2026 Affalterbach release is the source. Three axial-flux motors. 500 kW peak. 0–100 km/h in 2.7 seconds if you let Mercedes start the clock a foot off the line, 3.0 from a standstill. That is 62 mph. European sales start this month. Mercedes-Benz USA has not priced it.
This is not the gas CLA 45 S still on the U.S. site at $67,550 and 416 hp. That car has a hand-built 2.0-liter and a tailpipe. This one does not. It is the AMG take on the electric CLA we already covered, the 250+ at $47,250 and 268 hp and the 350 4MATIC at $49,800 and 349. Those use an 85-kWh pack. Affalterbach kept the architecture and threw the motors out.
Three pancake motors, 94 kWh
Official figures from that July table, sedan first:
- Three axial-flux motors: two at the rear, one up front. Peak 500 kW (680 hp). Continuous 450 kW (612 hp). 1,759 Nm, or 1,298 lb-ft.
- Front motor is a 225 kW (360 hp) booster with a disconnect. It unhooks under light load. The rear pair can do the full 500 kW alone.
- 800-volt pack, 94 kWh usable. Regular CLA is 85. DC peak 330 kW. Ten to 80 percent in 22 minutes. Ten minutes adds more than 270 km, about 168 miles, on the WLTP clock.
- WLTP range over 670 km on the sedan, 640 on the Shooting Brake. That is 416 and 398 miles on the easy cycle. No EPA number. Do not invent one.
- 0–100 km/h: 2.7 seconds with the one-foot rollout, 3.0 standing. Top speed 250 km/h, 270 with AMG DYNAMIC PLUS. 155 and 168 mph.
- 2,355 kg ready to drive under the EC rule. Cd 0.23. Length 4,742 mm, 19 mm longer than the regular electric CLA. Trunk 390 liters. Frunk still 101.
The motors are the axial-flux units that showed up first in the AMG GT 4-Door Coupé. Flux runs along the axis. The front unit is nine centimeters wide. The rears are about eight. AMG Performance 4MATIC+ can send torque to any corner and vector the rears. ECO mode drops the front axle and pretends you bought a rear-drive car.
Yes, it plays engine noises
AMGFORCE S+ is a speaker system. It plays engine noises in the cabin. AMG recorded a gas A 45 S with 13 microphones, on a dyno, parked and under load, more than 1,600 measurements, then pipes that four-cylinder back through the speakers while you drive. The sound is not a synth whoosh. It is someone else’s engine, on a loop. The seats shake with it. Paddles fake a dual-clutch that is not there. The cluster grows a tach and a gear number.
The sedan gets an active rear spoiler. The Shooting Brake gets an active roof-edge spoiler. In ECO, Comfort, and Sport they stay down until 145 km/h. In AMGFORCE S+ and RACE they deploy immediately. Front brakes are 390-by-36 mm with six-piston calipers. Most stops are regen, five levels, even with ABS in the loop.
On July 28, on Pirelli P Zero Trofeo RS tires, Kevin Berger ran 7:32.070 on the Nordschleife. AMG’s August 4 note called it a class record, notarized, first attempt. Predictive Performance Manager decides where to spend the pack. SPRINT for one lap. RACE for several. That is how a 5,200-pound CLA does a time that used to need a lighter car with a louder engine.
Two bodies. No U.S. sticker.
Launch cars are a saloon and a Shooting Brake. Same motors, same 94 kWh, same 2.7-second claim. The wagon is 15 kg heavier, Cd 0.26, 450 liters behind the seats, WLTP over 640 km. The August 4 release said sales start in August 2026. That is Europe. MBUSA’s CLA 45 page is still the old coupe with the turbo four. No U.S. MSRP, no EPA range, no on-sale date for the electric one. If a dealer quotes $67,550, they are selling you the leftover gas car.
The regular electric CLA is the range car. This is the one with three pancake motors, a 94-kWh pack, a spoiler that stands up, and a gas A 45 S playing through the speakers. 680 hp. 2.7 seconds if you accept the rollout. Over 416 WLTP miles if you accept WLTP. Price when Affalterbach feels like saying it.
Images courtesy of Mercedes-AMG. Specs from Mercedes-Benz Media’s July 9, 2026 release “Faster, more agile – and even more fun to drive: The new Mercedes-AMG CLA 45 4MATIC+” and the August 4, 2026 note “Best in Class on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife: Mercedes-AMG CLA 45 sets new record.”
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