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Should Mercedes Offer This EV Station Wagon Here?
The CLA-Class promises 473 miles in the WLTP cycle, and a glass roof that can turn opaque at the press of a button.
The modern electric era may have kicked off with high-priced sedans for early adopters before moving on to proliferate across SUV segments, but over a decade in, there are still few signs of this movement targeting station wagons for EV enthusiasts on any budget.
This will change in early 2026 as Mercedes-Benz will offer the first EV in station wagon form. At least in Europe.
In total, the third-generation CLA-Class will be offered both as a sedan and a station wagon, in hybrid and BEV flavors. But the longroof will, in fact, be its first EV wagon, and it will strive to be practical yet compact, as the segment requires.
One unique feature will be a one-piece panoramic glass roof that will stretch from the windshield all the way to the back, with the black-painted hatch spoiler designed to give the impression that the glass itself transitions into the rear windscreen.
To keep the cabin cool, the roof will feature heat-insulating laminated safety glass featuring a infrared-reflecting film on the inside. As an added option, the glass roof will also be able to go from transparent to opaque in 10 to 20 milliseconds, with the opaque setting providing reflectivity from sunlight.
"As the icing on the cake, the large panoramic roof is even illuminated," Mercedes-Benz notes. "For the first time, it is connected to the ambient lighting and offers an illuminated starry sky. 158 stars are integrated into its glass surface, which can be illuminated in the individually selected color of the ambient lighting."
When it comes to the powertrain, the single- and dual-motor versions will both rely on 85-kWh battery packs, with the single-motor RWD CLA250+ version featuring a 268-hp motor out back, good for 473 miles in Europe's slightly optimistic WLTP cycle. This will give it the ability to make the sprint from 0 to 62 mph in a reasonable 6.8 seconds.
The more impressive aspect of the drivetrain is that single- and dual-motor versions will feature a two-speed gearbox on the rear axle, with the second gear aimed at efficiency during highway speeds. This should greatly improve energy consumption levels at higher speeds.
A dual-motor CLA350 flavor will dial up the output to 349 hp, but one price to pay will be a lower range of 386 miles in the WLTP cycle.
But don't rush out to trade in that EQB just yet. The CLA will come stateside solely in sedan form, with Mercedes being realistic about the demand for a smallish EV wagon in the US.
And as sleek as the CLA-Class looks, it's the EQC and EQB you'll want for Costco runs.
The electric CLA-Class sedan, meanwhile, is quietly shaping up to be nothing short of a Tesla Model 3 slayer, expected to offer 400 miles of range in the EPA cycle when it goes on sale here in early 2026. (That's right: We're expecting around 400 miles of range in the EPA cycle for the sedan).
And that's perhaps the bigger story here than the availability of a station wagon based on this model.
Should Mercedes-Benz offer a station wagon version of the electric CLA-Class in the US, or do Americans largely prefer crossovers and SUVs at this point? Let us know in the comments below.