Would You Buy The Mercedes CLA EV At RM278k Or BMW i4 EV At RM294,800
In the Malaysian premium compact electric sedan space, the main electric car rival to the Mercedes-Benz CLA 250+ right now is the BMW i4 eDrive35 M Sport.
So, which would you buy tomorrow if you were looking to have a premium sports sedan that is emissions free?
For most Malaysians electric car buyers, the first issue is driving range on a single charge and with any brand new electric car launch the driving range gets better ……. here is where the CLA 250+ is in the lead by a big margin at 792km.
Next is fast charging because NOT every EV driver wants to have a coffee while waiting for their battery to charge up. They want to experience battery charging as fast (800v like with this CLA) as filling up a petrol tank in an ICE car.
The CLA driving range if up to 792km (WLTP) using an 85 kWh battery. Its rear-mounted motor delivers 272hp and 335Nm of torque and the 0–100 km/h acceleration time is in 6.7 seconds. Charging the battery uses a 800V architecture supporting up to 320 kW DC fast charging (adds 325km in just 10 minutes).
Mercedes CLA cabin features a MB.OS, MBUX Superscreen and AI integrations powered by ChatGPT-4o and Google Gemini for all the questions you might have whilst in the CLA>
Meanwhile, the BMW i4 was launched back in January 2025 and was priced at RM294,800 (excluding extended warranty/service packages). Its rear wheel drive powertrain delivers 286PS and 400 Nm of torque with a 0–100 km/h acceleration time of 6.0 seconds. Charging with the 11 kW onboard AC charger will take 8.25 hours, while a 10-80% top up at its 180 kW DC fast charging peak can be achieved in just 32 minutes.
For the BMW i4, the 70.3 kWh battery delivers a WLTP-rated driving range of up to 500km only (down by 292km when compared to the just launched CLA) and the cabin is running BMW Operating System 8.5 on the curved widescreen display.
The final purchase decision is yours and will not be based on anything said and showed by a KOL or influencer in Malaysia.
