Major European car brand backflips on charging misstep that could have cost it thousands of sales of its new electric car: 2026 Mercedes-Benz CLA EV follows in footsteps of Kia EV6 and Hyundai Ioniq 6

Mercedes-Benz has moved to correct a major blunder on its new CLA EV that would have made its 800-volt architecture incompatible with 400-volt chargers.

According to Carscoops, Mercedes-Benz USA confirmed that the CLA EV will carry a 400-volt converter, contrary to information from both the brand’s US, UK and European operations less than a week ago that said that this wouldn't be the case.

“After the initial limited delivery of cars late this year for demonstration of the CLA’s fast-charging abilities, 2026 US customer orders from early next year will feature a converter and be capable of charging at 400V and faster 800V,” said a Mercedes-Benz spokesperson.

If it came to fruition, the decision to omit a 400-volt converter would have severely limited the number of charging points made available to CLA buyers and inevitably dissuaded many people from purchasing it by exacerbating range anxiety concerns.

Which is ironic given its ultra-fast DC charging rate of 320kW (that can allegedly replenish 320km of driving range in just 20 minutes) is designed to have exactly the opposite effect.

Mercedes attempted to explain the thinking behind the initial move, telling Carscoops: “Public charging point technology varies across the world, and the networks widely available in the U.S. and Europe are different.”

"We’re committed to offering our customers the best experience and believe fast-charging at 800V gives the best and most convenient experience.”

While charging specifics like connector ports are different between Europe and the US, DC fast chargers that exceed 150kW are yet to become ubiquitous in either location, which suggests Mercedes may have taken a risky cost-cutting measure that it was forced to reverse due to consumer backlash.

This also wasn’t an issue that either the Kia EV6 or Hyundai Ioniq 6 faced, both of which use 800-volt architecture and are both sold in Europe and the US.

The brand’s local operations never confirmed the discrepancy for local examples, telling CarsGuide that specifications for the local model are still yet to be confirmed. It did, however, confirm that we will see the next electric CLA here in the second half of 2026.