Mercedes-Benz C-Class 2026 review: Electric – International first drive | BMW i3 rival tested

The Mercedes C-Class and BMW 3 Series rivalry is the stuff of automotive legend that dates back more than three decades, or even longer if you count the 190E that came before it.

For almost all of that time, both fiercely proud German brands have thrown everything they could at the pair of mid-size sedans to gain the upper hand, and the latest Mercedes C-Class Electric that arrives in Australia early next year is no exception.

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In the metal, that explains why not a single body panel is shared, and instead of a traditional three-box silhouette, the Mercedes EV is more of a four-door coupe, with a shape designed to minimise drag to boost range and efficiency.

Helping it stand out in the executive car park, the C-Class Electric features a futuristic update of the upright chrome grille that's illuminated by no fewer than 1050 tiny LED elements, flanked either side by a pair of slimline lamps with star-shaped LED elements.

At the rear, there's the merest sniff of the Nissan Z, or the latest flagship Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door, with the quad-round tail-lights and full-width light bar.

We'll leave it up to you to decide if you love the new look, or prefer the BMW i3's more striking styling, but it's hard not to fall in love with what's happened inside the Mercedes.

Thanks to the underpinnings, engineers have been able to stretch the wheelbase to liberate more space within, with more legroom for both those up front and in the rear.

You might think the rakish rear styling may have robbed the second row of valuable headroom, but there's still just enough for the tall, while the panoramic roof that turns opaque at the touch of a button and features 162 illuminated stars, will amuse kids and adults alike.

Boot space is decent at 470 litres, which is boosted by a 101-litre frunk.

A special mention has to go to the supremely comfortable seats that have a deep tissue massage function and can be finished in a certified vegan leather option for no extra cost.

Top-spec versions even come with integrated speakers within the headrest.

Ahead of the driver, the base-spec grades come with a 10.3-inch digital instrument cluster and a central 14-inch multimedia, with the further option of another 14-inch touchscreen for the passenger.

Our car came with the 39.1-inch MBUX Hyperscreen that stretched almost pillar-to-pillar and would fool many into thinking you're being piloted around in an S-Class.

Big and small screens run the firm's most advanced software that now provides a virtual assistant which, thanks to ChatGPT, Google Gemini and Microsoft Bing, is claimed to provide a natural conversation akin to a chat with an old mate.

We've already mentioned the C-Class's 800km range, but that figure is set to be only for the rear-wheel-drive C300 that arrives later.

The all-wheel-drive dual-motor C400 4Matic can travel 762km before it needs topping up, which is very respectable but a long way off the 900km of the all-wheel-drive BMW i3 50 xDrive.

Some of the range discrepancy is because the Benz comes with a 94kWh battery, instead of the i3's much larger 108.7kWh power pack, but do the maths and it still falls short because the BMW can average an astonishing 12.5kWh/100km for efficiency, some way off the 14.1kWh claim for the C400.

More bad news for the battery-electric sedan is when it comes to charging.

Capable of being topped up at around 330kW, up to 325km of range can be added in just ten minutes, with a 10-to-80 per cent battery refill taking 22 minutes.

The BMW, meanwhile, can charge at a rate of 400kW, adding 400km of range in the same 10 minutes, with the 10-to 80-per cent top up taking 20 minutes.

In Australia, those figures might be largely academic, but with our more plentiful 400V chargers, which account for around 80 per cent of all posts, the i3 still claims victory with 200kW top-ups, compared to the 100-ish-kW of the C400.

Where the C-Class Electric scores valuable points back is that its dual motors produce an impressive 360kW and 800Nm of torque for a 0-100km/h dash of just 4.0 seconds – a substantial 0.7 seconds quicker, with a 210km/h (+10km/h faster).

Behind the wheel, Mercedes doesn't quite nail the brief of being the sportiest C-Class ever. With a kerbweight of 2460kg, it's far too heavy for that, but to boost both comfort and agility, the Mercedes sedan gains both the option of air suspension and rear-wheel steering.

The fiendishly clever air springs and active dampers use Google Maps to remember both when to raise or lower the ride height and even make a note of nasty bump and lumps in the road, uploads the data to the Cloud, then let's other Mercedes models know where they are to pre-arm their suspension for a smoother ride.

It's clever, but at times in comfort mode the ride feels a little uncontrolled, while the steering feels too quick at lower speeds.

If you don't need the tighter turning circle, we think you should try the standard coil spring and active damper set-up and regular steering that still rides well, while offering better, more precise steering.

In Europe, the base Sport grades come with 19-inch alloy wheels, heat and noise insulating glass, LED headlamps, the panoramic roof, the comfort seats with four-way lumbar adjust, parking assist, blind spot assist and adaptive cruise with lane-keeping.

The AMG Line adds sport seats, the switchable panoramic roof, an AMG bodykit and uprated LED lamps.

The 2027 Mercedes C-Class Electric has yet to be crash tested by either EuroNCAP or rated by ANCAP, but when it is, the mid-size sedan should be judged among some of the safest cars money can buy, with the German brand earning a fine track record for safety.

The latest-generation Mercedes C-Class Electric comes with a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty and 10-year/250,000km protection for the battery.

Expect it to come with at least three years of capped-price servicing.

Mercedes Australia has yet to lock in prices locally, but when it does arrive early next year expect pricing for the C-Class Electric to kick off from around $105,000 plus on-roads, matching what will be charged for the BMW i3.