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A car with a brutal autonomy, designed for the client to forget the endemic evil of the electric car: look for a charger and wait for the necessary time to continue the march. A car designed by and to travel and to which, now, a problem as simple as it has been discovered: it does not charge most of the chargers.
This is happening with the Mercedes Cla.
The Mercedes Cla. A brutal autonomy. That was, without a doubt, the head that left us the presentation of the Mercedes Cla and that we lead to the first line of our article in Xataka. The Mercedes Berlina came to conquer the skeptics of the electric car promising up to 792 kilometers of approved WLTP autonomy.
With its 85 kWh battery and a homologated WLTP consumption absolutely ridiculous of 12.2 to 12.5 kWh, autonomy varies between 792 kilometers of version 272 hp and 771 kilometers of the 354 hp version. With exquisite aerodynamics and a very low front surface, it aspires to large autonomies.
The 800 volts. The German Berlina also had a powerful appeal. It is your first car with 800 volt structure. This tension allows you to load very high powers. With the appropriate charger (and now we will see the importance of adequate) can reach 320 kW of power. Thus, it goes from 10 to 80% autonomy in 22 minutes. That is, according to the estimated figures, more than 600 kilometers.
The industry has long since It goes to 800 volt platforms. He Porsche Taycan and the Audi E-Tron GT They already presented them years ago but more and more companies get into the car because it allows very fast loads. Hyundai, Kia, Stellantis or Renault are betting on them because it will allow them to mount less large (and faces) batteries but, at the same time, generate very little discomfort In the client.
What is expected in a premium brand like Mercedes is exactly what it offers (or should offer) the Mercedes Cla: large battery and express recharges. Who pays the money of a Premium car aspires to the best of the electric without the discomforts of the electric and the autonomy and load power of the Mercedes Claedes came to propose that (almost) we forgot the plugs.
An unexpected setback. For the client, of course. The first tests have been enough Del Mercedes Clade to find an unexpected setback: the car cannot load in the stations with 400 volt plugs. How many are those? We do not know, beyond that there are many. There is no official count of them.
And, until now, the charger is 800 volts or 400 volts had been indifferent to the user. In fact, the client cannot know it easily. What about cars that load at 800 volts? So far nothing. That is, if the car uses such a platform and the loader is 400 volts, he manages to load the car. If the car uses a 400 volt platform and the loader is 800 volts, it is the charger that does the best not to damage the battery.
The Mercedes Claedes, however, does nothing. Simply, do not load.
How do cars work? Cars with 800 volt platforms promise very high loads, above 200 kW. Right now, that loading power is almost exceptional and just a handful of loaders take advantage of powers greater than 200 kW or even 300 kW. However, it is estimated that with 800 volts 400 kW of power can be reached in the recharge with the appropriate plug.
If the car uses this platform but the loader is 400 volts, there are two possibilities. The first is that the battery divides, something like simulating that has two 400 volt packages. When the charger reaches the 800 volts unifies them. Another less efficient option is to put a DC-DC converter that adapts the voltage but the load power will be limited to that of the DC-DC converter.
Mercedes’s response. In Xataka We have contacted the company who have confirmed that, indeed, their cars can only take advantage of 800 volt chargers. Loaders that, as we say, there is no way of knowing for sure what are with a first search in the usual applications, such as electromaps.
From the company it is ensured that “the proportion of speed charging stations of 800 V constantly increases. With the new Mercedes-Benz (MB.OS) operating system and navigation with Electric Intelligence, it is guaranteed that the driver is always aimed at a compatible loading station. The update of available and compatible load stations works practically in real time.”
Despite this, they have not answered our question of whether Mercedes knows how many fast charging stations at 800 volts are available in Europe.
So? Then it only remains to trust the company’s browser. That or Always search for more than 200 kW load stations since it is the maximum loading power that can be offered to 400 volts. If the offered power is superior, it will use the 800 volts and the Mercedes Class can load.
Of course, these stations with such high powers are the most expensive when recharging. And along the way we leave most of the Tesla load points (the company is already installing with 800 volt structures) and a good part of the electricity in our country.
Photo | Mercedes
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