How AMG Packed Supercar Power Into a Compact Electric

Mercedes-AMG has just unveiled the all-new CLA 45 4Matic+. This latest compact performance car pushes the brand’s EV agenda even further as it is purely battery powered, and the numbers aren’t to be sneezed at. Underneath, the powertrain set-up borrows heavily from the bigger Mercedes-AMG GT 4-door Coupé concept and shrinks it into something that fits the compact segment. On paper, this electric CLA wants to embarrass supercars at the traffic light grand prix and still cover the distance between Durban and Johannesburg without sweat.

A compact body with serious hardware

AMGs performance basis here is axial flux motors. Theses flatter, disc-like motors, with the stator sitting between two rotors in an H-shaped arrangement allow for packaging in a compact platform, such as the CLA.

In this car, the front motor is about 90 mm wide, while each rear motor measures roughly 80 mm. The CLA 45 4Matic+ uses three of them in total, one at the front and two at the rear, with a peak system output of 500 kW. The company says the drive concept is built to deliver full output repeatedly, which is where many electric performance cars start to get a little ‘lazy’.

Each axle gets its own High Performance Electric Drive Unit. At the rear, two axial flux motors share a compact single-speed planetary gearbox, oil cooling, an integrated pump control unit with hydraulic pumps and two water-cooled silicon carbide inverters. That rear unit is where the serious shove lives.

The front axle uses a separate HP.EDU with a single axial flux motor, a spur gearbox with an integrated parking lock, a liquid-cooled silicon carbide inverter and a pump control unit. AMG calls it a booster motor, but it does more than fill in the blanks. It can make up to 225 kW and is disconnected almost instantly, which cuts drag. Under harder acceleration or during energy recovery, it snaps back into action. Rear-wheel drive alone is possible too, which should give you a small idea of how AMG envisioned this car should feel.

The next result of this high-tech drivetrain is a compact performance sedan that can blast from rest to 100 km/h on 3 seconds flat. It has a top speed of 250 km/h, or 270 km/h with the optional AMG drivers package.

AWD with torque vectoring

AMG Performance 4Matic+ is the heart of the handling story. Because each of the three motors is independently controlled, the car can vary torque between the front and rear axles and also vector torque across the rear wheels. In plain terms, it can shuffle drive in a way that suits grip, speed, and the driver’s right foot without the usual clumsy transition between one layout and another.

The system can slip from rear-drive behaviour to all-wheel drive smoothly. Sensors are quick enough to spot wheelspin in milliseconds. That should pay off on loose surfaces, but it is just as useful when a driver is ham-fisted on a wet on-ramp and discovers that instant torque does not care for clumsy inputs.

AMG also leans hard on the suspension and aero package. AMG Ride Control offers various modes with damping that can alter each wheel’s behaviour in milliseconds. The active aerodynamics are described as a class first, and they are more than a styling flourish. The saloon gets an active rear spoiler aimed at keeping the car settled and efficient as speed rises.

Digital Reality

AMGForce S+ may divide opinion. This mode is built to mimic the character of a high-performance AMG four-cylinder engine, with sound inside the cabin and a haptic layer that simulates the interruption of traction during gear changes. Purists will roll their eyes. Some may be quietly relieved that the company has at least tried to preserve some of the character that made fast four-cylinder AMGs memorable in the first place.

AMG Dynamic Select offers seven drive modes, stretching from efficient and relaxed settings to options that suit a track day. Track work gets even more serious with the AMG Dynamic+ package, which AMG presents as a kind of personal racing coach. AMG Track Pace records more than 80 vehicle-specific data points ten times a second. The data can then be used to coach the driver to accomplishing quicker lap times around a given circuit.

The cabin finishes with the usual AMG theatre. Performance seats, an AMG steering wheel, exclusive trim, high-quality upholstery, and that red-meets-black racing ambience the brand uses to good efffect.

Performance appearance

The CLA has distinctive features that characterise the AMG version from others in the family. Thes include a front splitter merges, widened front fenders with flared wheel arches, wider AMG side skirts in high-gloss black with matt chrome trim lower and a bonnet with power domes. Alloy wheels measure 19 inches as standard, shod with tyres in the sizes 245/40 at the front and 265/40 at the rear.

Real-world range

Mercedes-AMG planted a 94 kWh usable lithium-ion pack into the CLA45. Range is quoted at over 670 km which AMG says is roughly equivalent to the distance between Berlin and Vienna, or Joburg to Durban. This is AMG trying to remove range anxiety. The 800-volt architecture helps here. The CLA 45 4MATIC+ can charge at up to 330 kW, go from 10 to 80 per cent in 22 minutes, and add enough energy in ten minutes for more than 270 km of range.