Mercedes electric cars: Every model explained

A Mercedes with an electric drivetrain and a relatively simple name? Yes, the Mercedes-Benz CLA Electric marks a fresh chapter for the German luxury car brand. A hugely impressive chapter, it turns out.

Thanks to the company’s latest electric platform – called MMA, if you're interested – the CLA Electric offers one of the longest driving ranges of any EV. Best of the lot is the CLA 250+ Electric Saloon which can travel up to a claimed 483 miles on a single charge – close to a tank of diesel's territory. Better still, you can add around 200 miles of range in just ten minutes from a suitably powerful charger.

It also looks fantastic. Low, sleek and properly aerodynamic, the CLA Electric manages to appear futuristic without disappearing completely up its own non-existent exhaust pipe. Inside, it's less traditional, with a dashboard that's almost entirely made up of screens. And as good as Mercedes' software is, the screen-heavy approach won't be for everyone. Thankfully, the refinement and build quality are exactly what you'd expect from a Mercedes. All good.

The Mercedes-Benz EQA is the brand's smallest electric SUV and, if we're being honest, it's also one of its most sensible. It's certainly 'normal' given it's based on the familiar Mercedes-Benz GLA, which means it’s sized sensibly for supermarket car parks, while still seating a small family.

Inside, it's unmistakably a Mercedes. You get the brand's twin-screen dashboard, excellent build quality and multi-colour lighting all over the cabin. The lights could be overkill, but they bring a nice touch of customisation and genuinely lift the ambience.

The 340-litre boot is on the small side, though – compared with, say, the 515 of the Audi Q4 e-tron – and while the 346-mile range of longest versions is enough, it’s no longer cutting edge. The EQA is designed to make everyday driving feel effortless rather than exciting and even entry-level versions come well-equipped, with heated front seats, wireless smartphone connectivity, adaptive cruise control and Mercedes' excellent MBUX infotainment system all included as standard.

Replacing the EQB, the Mercedes GLB Electric is a practical family SUV with an upright shape that prioritises space over style. That means excellent visibility, plenty of headroom and, carrying over the EQB's arguably best feature, the availability of seven seats.

It shares much of its engineering with the CLA Electric, which means battery range of up to 379 miles, much faster charging than older Mercedes EVs and noticeably better efficiency. Mercedes has also stretched the wheelbase, meaning those rearmost seats are a little more accommodating than before. They're still far better suited to children than adults, mind.

Fold the third row away and you'll find a generous 480-litre boot ready for pushchairs, dogs... whatever. Like the EQA, it's more about comfort than sharp handling, while the ride is smooth, visibility is excellent and the tech-heavy interior still feels unmistakably Mercedes. With prices starting from £46,100, it feels like a lot of car for the money – especially considering the seven-seat flexibility.

The C-Class has been one of Mercedes-Benz's biggest-selling cars for decades, so making it electric was always going to be a big moment. Thankfully, Mercedes hasn't tried to reinvent it. Instead, it's taken everything people already like about the model – comfort, quality and effortless motorway manners – and swapped the engine for one of the most impressive battery-powered drive systems the company has ever built to make the Mercedes-Benz C-Class Electric.

It also looks reassuringly familiar. It's handsome and unmistakably a C-Class, just with a few aerodynamic tweaks to help it slip through the air more efficiently. That said, the grille and its rear lights are divisive.

Offering up to 452 miles of claimed driving potential, it’s one of the longest range EVs available – albeit, eclipsed by the new BMW i3, which will definitely irk Mercedes. Hey ho. Ultra-fast charging means you can add around 200 miles in about ten minutes from a suitably powerful charger, which is more important.

The Mercedes GLC has long been Mercedes' best-selling SUV, so giving it an electric version was always inevitable. Unlike the older EQC, which always felt like a stopgap, the new Mercedes-Benz GLC Electric has been designed from the ground up to compete with the very best premium electric SUVs – most notably the groundbreaking new BMW iX3 as well as the Audi Q6 e-tron.

It doesn’t match the BMW’s groundbreaking 500-mile claimed battery range, nor does it have the Audi’s interior solidity, but it’s uniquely appealing. On the outside it looks fancy in a ‘classic Mercedes’ sort of way, while the interior is genuinely startling. There’s widescreen and then there’s this…

Mercedes' optional MBUX Superscreen stretches almost the entire width of the cabin, comprising a digital instrument display, central touchscreen infotainment, and a passenger screen for music, films and navigation. Without it, the cabin isn’t quite as spectacular, but the GLC Electric is well equipped generally and feels very worth the £55,500 starting price.

The Mercedes-Benz EQE is essentially an electric equivalent to the Mercedes E-Class – a large, executive saloon designed to cover huge motorway distances in near silence. Its job is to tempt buyers away from the BMW i5 and Audi A6 Sportback e-tron, just as the E-Class did in the age of diesel.

The EQE'S styling divided opinion when it arrived, which perhaps explains why Mercedes has taken a more conservative approach with the new C-Class Electric. It looks the way it does because Mercedes prioritised aerodynamics over traditional proportions, helping it cut through the air like an oiled-up banana.

The interior is magnificent. The seats are among the most comfortable you'll find in any car and the optional 56-inch MBUX Hyperscreen dashboard manages to display a huge amount of information without ever feeling overwhelming. It's expensive, certainly – the cheapest Hyperscreen-equipped EQE 500 4Matic costs £82,615 – but if your life consists of long business trips and endless motorway miles, few electric cars make more sense.

Like an EQE, but taller – that’s the Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV in a nutshell, really. It has the same luxurious cabin, big-screen tech and relaxed driving manners as the EQE Saloon, but wraps them in a higher-riding SUV body. That improves visibility and headroom, plus – more pragmatically – it makes getting in and out noticeably easier.

It’s wonderfully refined: wind noise is almost non-existent, the suspension glides over broken roads and everything happens with an effortless smoothness that’s become a Mercedes trademark. Sometimes an electric motor makes other noises seem louder in a car – brakes clamping on, steering rack motors and the like – but in the EQE SUV that’s simply not the case.

The boot is tangibly bigger than the EQE Saloon’s too: 520 litres compared with 430 litres, which is a genuine practical advantage. Unsurprisingly, though, you pay for the extra space. The premium for an EQE SUV over an equivalent EQE Saloon is around £9,000, model for model.

No prizes for guessing that if the EQE is an electric E-Class, the Mercedes-Benz EQS is an electric alternative to the Mercedes S-Class. It's Mercedes' all-electric flagship saloon – well, it's a hatchback, strictly speaking – built to showcase everything the brand can do in terms of luxury, comfort and EV technology.

It's enormous, outrageously comfortable and packed with enough technology to keep gadget enthusiasts entertained for the entirety of a three-year lease deal. One particularly clever feature is the 10-degree rear-axle steering, which means a turning circle more akin to a small hatch’s than a 5325mm long limo’s.

The styling isn't exactly beautiful, or discreet, but spend five minutes inside and you'll quickly stop caring. The cabin is magnificent, materials are exceptional, rear passengers are thoroughly spoiled and the whole car feels engineered to make long journeys melt away.

Range is exceptional too, with EQS 450+ versions capable of travelling up to 541 miles. Prices from around £92,000 make it eye-wateringly expensive, but then every flagship Mercedes has been pricey since they first became a thing.

The Mercedes EQS SUV delivers the same sense of effortless luxury as the EQS Saloon, but it does so with much more practicality, notably including seven seats. The rearmost seats are proper, too – big enough for adults. There isn't an especially clever reason for that, it's just a massive car – the boot is 2,020 litres with the second and third rows folded flat, roughly the volume of a Chelsea apartment.

Despite weighing over three tonnes, the EQS SUV somehow manages to feel serene rather than cumbersome. The suspension performs miracles, while rear-wheel steering makes it feel considerably less enormous than it actually is. Again, just like the saloon.

Starting at around £129,500, it comes as standard with the best that Mercedes-Benz has to offer. Even the MBUX Hyperscreen, which replaces the conventional dashboard with a single curved glass panel stretching almost the full width of the cabin, is now standard equipment. It combines three displays into one seamless unit, including a dedicated touchscreen for the front passenger, who can browse navigation, media and other functions without distracting the driver.

There are few cars more recognisable than the Mercedes-Benz G-Class. The ‘G-Wagen’ has been climbing mountains, crossing deserts and appearing outside overpriced restaurants for decades. Making it electric sounded faintly ridiculous – conceptually and literally. Remarkably, Mercedes has pulled it off.

The Mercedes-Benz G-Class Electric looks almost identical to the combustion-engined versions, retaining its gloriously boxy shape and unapologetically old-school charm.

Underneath, though, things are very different. Four electric motors – one for each wheel – give it astonishing off-road capability, while a clever trick called G-Turn allows it to spin on the spot like a tank. It’s completely unnecessary and totally brilliant, a lot like the idea of having a G-Class as a family car in general. Albeit, now that it’s zero-emissions rather than being a 12mpg private school runabout, it’s slightly less ridiculous.