The electric Mercedes CLA is already one of our favourite executive electric cars at Electrifying – not to mention European Car of the Year 2026. Now the high performance Mercedes-AMG CLA 45 has officially been unveiled at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
To give it its full name, this is the Mercedes-AMG CLA 45 4Matic+ and it gets 680hp courtesy of a bespoke tri-motor setup that uses electric motors manufactured by British firm, Yasa.
The slim, axial flux motors are lighter and slimmer than comparable electric motors, and offer active all-wheel drive via AMG’s triple-motor layout, which features one motor on the front axle, and two at the back.
This means that the electric AMG CLA can direct all of its power and torque to each individual wheel, for maximum handling precision. It also means that you can have a rear-wheel drive drift mode, which sounds like a lot of fun.
It also means that it'll do 0–62mph in 3.0 seconds! That's fast enough, isn't it?!
These are the same motors that also feature in the range-topping Mercedes AMG GT Coupe (albeit with a lot more power!) that Nicki had a look around earlier this year, so we’re very excited to have a go in these hot, electric Mercedes when they arrive.
In the meantime, I had a good look around the new, electric Mercedes-AMG CLA 45 4Matic+ on a very sunny stand at Goodwood.
I think the Mercedes CLA already looks brilliant, with its teardrop shape and distinctive three-pointed star light signature, but the AMG 45 really does take it to another level.
The most obvious way that you're going to tell the AMG apart from the standard Mercedes CLA is the hydraulic rear wing, if it's in one of its raised positions. I quite like that it's not so overtly AMGed, to be honest.
I really like the look of it. It's purposeful and has a great stance, yet still benefits from the lovely proportions of the standard CLA.
Obviously, the AMG also benefits from the same 800V architecture that the 'normal' CLA models get, so expect ultra-rapid charging of up to 320kW. It uses a 94kWh NMC battery, which manages a 416-mile WLTP range despite that huge performance.
There will also be a Shooting Brake version of the Mercedes-AMG CLA 45, which makes me very happy because I absolutely love an estate. Especially a fast estate! So I'd definitely take my AMG CLA 45 in Shooting Brake form. And in that nice metallic red. Thanks!
Pricing hasn't been confirmed for the electric Merc-AMG CLA 45 yet, but it goes on sale in Europe and the UK later this year – and given that the standard CLA is priced around £50,000–£60,000, it's fair to expect this to be some £70,000 or more. Still going to be cheaper than the new electric BMW M3, though, isn't it!
I also had a look around the Mercedes-AMG GT Coupe while I was on the Mercedes stand, which has also made its debut at Goodwood.
It looks very different in black, to the bright yellow that we saw it in initially.
It’s definitely a divisive-looking car, but actually in the Batman spec that Mercedes is showing at Goodwood 2026, it takes on a more aggressive sinister look that really suits it. I much prefer it here than I did when I saw it on Nicki’s video.
