Following earlier plans for the discontinuation of the Mercedes-Benz A-Class mannequin line as quickly as this yr, the German producer has cancelled plans to retire its compact mannequin, which is now set to be produced into 2026, Autocar has reported.
This growth follows affirmation of the German producer’s about-turn on its path firmly in the direction of battery-electric autos, and Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Källenius has acknowledged that the carmaker’s newest research have projected that plug-in hybrids and absolutely electrical autos will include simply half of the manfacturer’s international gross sales by its previously-cited 2030 goal.
“I don’t assume anybody had ever thought that the once-in-a-century transformation of the auto business will probably be a straight line. There will probably be peaks and troughs,” Källenius stated, who pointed to the present worth disparity between EVs and their ICE-powered counterparts as one cause that the take-up of EVs have been slower than anticipated.
Mercedes-Benz’s personal research predict that demand for EVs will probably be primarily within the small- and medium-sized automotive segments, and that value parity between EVs and ICE fashions “is a few years away,” based on Källenius, who says that the distinction is seen of their pricing.
Continuation of manufacturing for the A-Class has seen Mercedes-Benz alter its manufacturing plant in Rastatt, Germany to have the ability to produce vehicles primarily based on the present MFA platform for compact fashions, in addition to vehicles constructed on the MMA platform.
The MMA platform, or Mercedes-Benz Modular Structure to present its full title, has been claimed to be the automaker’s last platform to help inner combustion engines, although its focus is totally on absolutely electrical fashions. This platform will probably be first used for the third-generation CLA, a idea mannequin for which was unveiled final September.
Electrical drive within the CLA Idea is the Mercedes-Benz Electrical Drive Unit, that’s comprised of the motor, transmission and energy electronics which have been developed fully in-house, and is the primary drive unit in a household of drive models that will probably be deployed to serve a variety of mannequin traces, Mercedes-Benz stated of the CLA Idea’s powertrain.
The CLA Idea will get a 238 PS electrical motor with two-speed transmission, and the idea is claimed to have a WLTP vary of as much as 750 km, and options an 800-volt electrical structure supporting as much as 250 KW of DC quick charging that brings a further 400 km of vary in simply quarter-hour.
Whereas the CLA Idea is configured for rear-wheel-drive, its modular design allows its use in AWD functions and subsequently, to function dual-motor powertrains, and is scalable to be used in numerous car segments, Mercedes-Benz stated final yr.
In the meantime, combustion-engined variations of the subsequent CLA have been deliberate with the German producer’s M282 four-cylinder petrol engine, which is to be manufactured by Geely in China and is set to be deployed in future fashions from Geely, Lynk & Co and Volvo.
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