The bulk of charging stations in the United States use 400-volt DC fast chargers, which the 2026 Mercedes-Benz CLA EV will be unable to use. The problem arises from the CLA’s 800-volt electrical architecture, which supports charging speeds of up to 320 kW but is only compatible with 800-volt chargers. Although the CLA EV includes a NACS-style charging port, it will still be unable to access Tesla’s Supercharger network, which presently only supports 400-volt chargers. When the third-generation 2026 Mercedes-Benz CLA with an electric engine came out earlier this year, it looked like the German car company had a bright future in the EV business. The CLA is Mercedes’ first EV with an 800-volt design, which provides 320 kW of charging power. This is the CLA. Even though higher-voltage networks deliver energy more quickly, slow charging speeds are still stopping more people from buying EVs. However, the 2026 CLA’s switch to an 800-volt system could make the electric car less useful. The trouble is simple: the 800-volt CLA EV can’t be charged with a 400-volt DC fast charger. This information was first tweeted by the “RoamingNorway” account, and InsideEVs later wrote about it. The tweet includes a statement from the Mercedes-Benz Germany website, which states that the integrated navigation system will only display compatible stations on the map and that the CLA may only be charged using 800-volt DC fast chargers. When we called Mercedes, they confirmed that the CLA EV does not work with 400-volt DC fast chargers. A Mercedes-Benz USA representative stated, “Although charging at 400-volt DC stations isn’t possible, the Mercedes-Benz navigation with Electric Intelligence directs drivers to compatible high-performance chargers, where the new CLA can charge at up to 320 kW.” Because most DC fast chargers in the US can only provide 400 volts, this will be a big problem for CLA EV drivers who want to use public charging networks. Concerns were raised about the new CLA’s use of the NACS-style charging connection, which lets it charge on Tesla’s huge Supercharger network, though only a few of them have 800 volts or higher. In this case, the CLA EV will need an adaptor to connect its NACS plug to a CCS-type charger, and it can only be charged at the few fast chargers that work with 800-volt DC power. However, the problem won’t stop people from putting in their CLA at home and charging it overnight, since an AC charger can still be used. Even if more charging stations are added to the US network, when the CLA EV comes out this fall, 800-volt fast chargers will probably only make up a small part of all the stations. The Lucid Air and the Hyundai Ioniq 5 are similar cars that run at least 800 volts and don’t have this problem. This means that Mercedes’ future electric sedan will be behind the times.
