2026 Mercedes-Benz C 400 4MATIC electric

Mercedes built its sportiest C-Class yet, and then quietly made comfort the real party trick

The C-Class has been Mercedes' best-selling saloon for decades, so turning it electric was never going to be a small decision. The C 400 4MATIC electric is the first result, and on paper it is a genuine performance statement: 490 hp, four seconds flat to 100 km/h and styling cues lifted straight from the GLC playbook. Mercedes wants you to talk about the sportiness. We drove it, and came away far more impressed by everything it does when nobody is watching the stopwatch.

Design: GLC muscle, star-shaped everything

Park it next to the GLC and the family resemblance is obvious, right down to the grille made from 1,050 individually lit LEDs that can run small animations when you unlock, lock or plug the car in. The headlights carry the new star-shaped daytime running lights that now define every recent Mercedes, and the whole nose looks properly muscular rather than just busy. In profile the roofline slopes away almost like a coupe, and it is by far the most flattering angle on the car.

Rear: the one part we are not sold on

The back is where our enthusiasm cools slightly. The two half-open circular lights on each side and the star motif tie in neatly with the rest of the range, but the black panel connecting them looks and feels a step down from the quality on display everywhere else, closer to cheap plastic than the rest of the car deserves. It is a small thing on a car that gets almost everything else about its styling right, but it is the detail our eyes kept going back to.

No estate, not for at least a year

Estate fans will have to wait. Mercedes told us it is still evaluating whether there is enough demand for a Touring version of the electric C-Class, and confirmed there is nothing coming within the next 12 months. Given how strong the combustion T-Model has always sold in Europe, we suspect this is a question of when rather than if.

Interior: the biggest single screen in the class

Get in and the dashboard is dominated by a single screen that runs uninterrupted from the driver's side to the passenger's, the largest one-piece display in the segment. It runs Mercedes' latest MB.OS, and the sheer amount packed in initially feels like a lot to take in. Not everyone will love the size of it, but once you start using it, it turns out to be genuinely easy to find your way around.

MB.OS: an assistant that actually gets things done

The real step forward is what the AI now does without you touching the screen. Ask for somewhere to eat nearby and it will suggest places that are actually open and well reviewed, and once you pick one it will line up a charger close by without being asked twice. It also remembers what you talked about a few minutes earlier, which sounds small until you realise how rare that still is in a car. The whole thing feels fast, and noticeably less scripted than the assistants we are used to.

Seats and switchgear: properly Mercedes

The seats are excellent, heated, ventilated and with a massage function that makes longer trips genuinely more pleasant. The steering wheel is shared with the rest of the Mercedes range, but the updated physical buttons are a welcome return after years of fiddly touch-sensitive pads. Sit inside and everything, bar that rear panel, feels every bit as premium as the badge promises.

Driving: sporty, and Mercedes really wants you to notice

Mercedes is desperate for people to feel how sporty this thing is, and to be fair, it has a point. With 490 hp, a heavy battery sitting low in the floor and a genuinely low centre of gravity, it sprints to 100 km/h in four seconds flat, and the throttle response is properly aggressive when you ask for it. Push it around an agility course and the C 400 4MATIC electric handles far better than its size suggests, helped enormously by the optional rear-axle steering fitted to our test car, which makes it feel noticeably smaller and lighter on its feet than it has any right to.

But comfort is what actually matters here

Personally, we think Mercedes is selling the wrong headline. A C-Class has to work as a daily companion first, and that is exactly where this car shines. Our test car came fitted with the optional Agility and Comfort package, and on this evidence we would tick that box without hesitation: the air suspension soaks up broken tarmac with ease, the cabin stays hushed at speed, and the rear-axle steering tightens the turning circle around town while stretching the wheelbase virtually at higher speeds for a far more relaxed motorway gait. The driving assistance systems are tuned with a light touch too: the adaptive cruise control is good enough that you stop noticing it is doing the driving for you.

Range, charging and a price that needs some context

On the figures that matter for daily life, the C 400 4MATIC electric does not disappoint. Range comfortably covers a normal week of driving, and thanks to 800-volt architecture and 330 kW peak charging, a ten-minute stop puts back up to 325 km of range. Combined with the air suspension and effortless power delivery, it makes a genuinely convincing case as a long-distance cruiser. At €67,000 it undercuts nothing, and sits a little above our closest comparison point in the segment, the BMW i3, though it answers back with a noticeably more luxurious cabin. We have not yet driven the two back to back, so treat that as an early read rather than a final verdict.

AutoNext Verdict

The electric C-Class shows exactly how far Mercedes has come in the EV game. Range is more than sufficient, charging is quick, the air suspension makes it properly comfortable, and there is no shortage of power whenever you want it.

It is not flawless, though. That rear panel looks and feels cheaper than everything around it, there is no estate on the horizon for at least a year, and at €67,000 it asks a real premium over some of its rivals.

None of that changes the bigger picture. This is an outstanding electric saloon with genuine luxury credentials, and easily the most complete electric C-Class Mercedes could have built first time out.