Mercedes C-Class Electric launch drives reveal a wide range spread

Mercedes flew reviewers to Helsinki, handed them the first all-electric C-Class and, in at least one case, gave them four hours before the flight home. The resulting efficiency figures do not deliver one neat verdict: two are remarkably close, while a third is much better. None came from a controlled range test.

The C400 4MATIC is the only version anyone can order at the moment, and Mercedes claims up to 452 miles of WLTP range from its 94kWh pack — What Car? puts the usable figure at 94.5kWh, and CompleteCar.ie's European test car carried a headline number of up to 762km.

Carwow's Matt Watson reset the trip computer at Helsinki airport and drove until he had to give the car back. He finished on 16.8kWh per 100km. "3.7 miles per kilowatt hour. Now multiply that by 94. 347.8 miles," he worked out on camera. "So about 350 miles on a full charge, which is about 100 miles down on what Mercedes claim. It's not great, is it?"

CompleteCar.ie, driving the same model on the same roads, landed almost exactly on top of him: 16.6kWh per 100km, a figure still falling as the drive went on, and one the reviewer judged "not too bad actually".

Electrifying got a friendlier result — around 4.4 miles per kilowatt hour against a claimed 5.0 — and was candid about why that might be. The channel said it had been driving under launch conditions, "which isn't always ideal", and promised a proper efficiency test once a UK car arrives. Two of the three measurements still converge on roughly 350 real-world miles. That is a long way. It is also a long way short of 452.

UK prices open at £57,995 and climb past £70,000, with orders already taken and first deliveries expected around October. Every launch car is the twin-motor C400 4MATIC, quoted at 360kW — 489hp, or 483bhp in What Car?'s figures — and 800Nm. Watson's timing gear returned 3.87 seconds to 60mph, comfortably inside the official 4.0-second 0-62mph claim.

The 800-volt architecture is the genuinely modern part. Peak DC charging is 330kW, which Mercedes translates into roughly 200 miles in ten minutes; What Car? quotes 22 minutes for 10 to 80 per cent. On the 400-volt rapid chargers most British drivers actually meet, Electrifying expects around 100kW and 25 to 30 minutes for 100 miles. AC charging is 11kW as standard, 22kW for a £1,000 option.

Every reviewer who had the optional Airmatic air suspension came away sold on it. Electrifying said the car "really seems to float down the road", and reckoned the C-Class's low centre of gravity fixes the slightly seasick float the channel's team has criticised in other recent Mercedes EVs. CompleteCar.ie was more technical about it: the setup "breathes and flows with the road" without ever going soft enough to unsettle you. Watson, who spent part of his four hours chasing a Mercedes instructor around a handling circuit, was blunter — "it makes it feel like an S-Class. Not a mini S-Class. An actual S-Class."

What Car? dug into how it works. The dampers pull Google traffic data to decide when to stay low for aerodynamic gain, and crowdsource pothole hits from other Mercedes models running the same hardware, holding that data for 14 days so a following car can pre-set itself. Whether it helps on a British B-road is untested, because almost nothing here has the system yet.

Regenerative braking drew similar praise. Mercedes says 99 per cent of everyday braking happens without the friction brakes, and CompleteCar.ie could not detect a handover point between the two — a pointed compliment, given how badly the early EQS managed the same trick. Watson spent a chunk of his drive convinced the automatic regen was broken, before a Mercedes engineer explained that the system slows for speed limits, roundabouts and traffic ahead but leaves side-road turns to the driver. He apologised on camera.

Rear headroom is the recurring complaint. What Car?'s presenter, sitting behind his own driving position, could "just about get away with not touching the roof lining", and noted a taller colleague could not. Watson thought anyone over 6ft 4in would struggle, and both he and CompleteCar.ie flagged a raised floor that leaves knees angled up with little under-thigh support. Neither got the flat floor an EV platform ought to deliver. Watson also singled out rear windows that barely wind down: "probably the worst that I've seen on any car".

The 39.1-inch Hyperscreen splits opinion along familiar lines. Electrifying finds it increasingly intuitive and rates the AI voice assistant, which What Car? says routes questions to ChatGPT, Google Gemini or others depending on what you ask. CompleteCar.ie found the same assistant interrupting conversations it had misheard, and objected to climate control living entirely inside a menu. Watson spent a good portion of his drive lost, blaming the navigation: "too much information, Mercedes."

The practical wins are real, though: a 40/20/40-split 470-litre boot, a 101-litre frunk that opens by pressing the badge, and 1.8 tonnes of towing capacity against a Tesla Model 3's one tonne.

Three of the four reviewers landed on the same conclusion: this is not the C-Class to buy. A single-motor rear-drive car with the same battery is coming, should crack 500 miles and will cost less. What Car? raised a colder point too — Mercedes finished 22nd of 30 brands in its 2025 reliability survey, below BMW and Tesla, with no data on this model yet.

The BMW i3 arriving to fight it carries a 108.7kWh pack, a claimed 567 miles and 400kW charging. If the C400's launch numbers are any guide, the gap between figures like those and a real trip computer is where that fight gets decided. Watson's verdict on the Mercedes, after all that: shortlist it.