2024 Mecedes EQA 250+ : Observations after a day of driving

The EQA 250+ Recharge can easily cruise at triple-digit speeds on the highway and when you need to overtake a slower vehicle quickly, just floor the A-pedal and romp past the vehicle.

Driving the EQA 250+

No frunk at the front. No plastic cover for the components either:

The EQA 250+ comes with a 70.5 kWh lithium-ion battery pack mounted on the floor of the car. Powering the car is a single electric motor that puts out 188 BHP and 385 Nm. It is mounted at the front and drives the front wheels.

To bring the electric motors to life, you need to press the brake and press the engine start/stop button.

Step on the accelerator and the car moves forward gently. There are no jerks from gearshifts and no sound from the engine, which means it is an extremely refined experience. Driving the car in city traffic is a breeze. There is enough power on tap to keep up with the traffic and close a gap to the vehicle in front quickly.

On the open road, the EQA 250+ provides fair performance. However, you will not find it very exciting, especially if you have driven the dual motor Volvo XC40 Recharge. Mercedes claims a 0-100 km/h sprint time of 8.6 seconds - 1.3 seconds slower than the XC40 Recharge Single Motor and 3.7 seconds slower than the Volvo's Dual motor version. It is still brisk though. Floor the A-pedal and you will moved ahead of most other cars around you without much difficulty. The top speed is claimed to be 160 km/h.

The EQA 250+ Recharge can easily cruise at triple-digit speeds on the highway and when you need to overtake a slower vehicle quickly, just floor the A-pedal and romp past the vehicle. However, the harder you drive, the faster the range drops. This is also why you will see EVs that are driving longer distances sticking to the middle lane and cruising at 80-100 km/h (which is the best cruising speed for the current lots of EVs).

The EQA 250+ comes with 4 driving modes - Comfort (default), Eco, Sport and Individual. These modes alter the throttle response.

The Comfort mode is the default mode which is in between the middle of Eco and Sport modes. It works well in town and on the highway and offers a good balance between range and performance.

In Eco mode, the throttle response is lazier. This mode provides the smoothest ride, especially in the city where traffic is thicker. However, it is not suitable for use on the highway where you might need to overtake a vehicle quickly.

In Sport mode, it's the opposite. Even with a light dab of the throttle, the motor responds. On undivided highways, this is the mode to use to pull off quick overtakes. The steering firms up too. However, using this mode in the city is not advisable as power delivery can get spiky.

Individual mode gives you the option to customise your driving experience to your requirements.

No insulation under the bonnet...

...but full insulation on the firewall:

Full underbody protection:

Regenerative Braking

The EQA 250+ comes with 4 levels of regenerative braking - Normal, Strong, Maximum and Intelligent. You can switch between these three levels by using the paddles located behind the steering wheel. The Normal level is not very noticeable and if you have the car in this mode, you might end up using the brakes a lot. On the Strong and Maximum levels, the braking gets progressively stronger.

The Intelligent recuperation mode can be engaged by keeping one of the paddles pulled. In this mode, the car decides how much braking should be done depending upon the traffic on the road. While it works pretty well on the highway where the traffic is flowing fast and  smooth, it can catch you out on city roads.

Noise, Vibration & Harshness (NVH)

Like most EVs, the EQA 250+ is super quiet. There’s no engine or gearbox to make any noise, so the overall driving experience is silent.

Cabin insulation is top class and wind noise and tyre / road noise are well controlled. Overall, the cabin is a quiet and comfortable place to be in.

Range

The Mercedes EQA 250+ has a WLTP-certified range of 560 km. We drove the car for ~150 km and used up ~45% of the battery. But then our driving included some really fast runs, hard acceleration, idling and playing around with the drive modes and regen levels. Driven more sensibly, you can expect a range of ~400 km.

Given the rising demand for EVs, there are plenty of charging stations popping up everywhere, which ought to take care of range anxiety as well. There are more than 1,000 charging points in India that can be located via the FICH App. Mercedes itself has set up more than 150 charging points in the country.

Charging

Mercedes claims that using the standard 11 kW AC charger, a full charge should take 7 hours and 15 minutes. The car can also be charged using a 100 kW DC charger. The company claims that this can charge the battery from 10% to 80% in 35 minutes.

Suspension

Ride Comfort

The Mercedes EQA 250+ The GLA gets MacPherson struts at the front and a multi-link suspension at the rear. As you would expect from a European car, the setup is on the stiffer side and you do feel a lot of the road. A big contributor to this is the 19-inch wheel size of the AMG Line accompanied by 235/50 section runflat tyres. That’s not a very tall profile to provide a cushy ride. While the suspension can handle small bumps and potholes you can still feel them in the cabin. Large potholes should be handled with more caution.

The recommended tyre pressure is a rather high 40 PSI. Dropping the pressure might help improve the ride.

Handling & Dynamics

As expected from a German car, the straight-line stability is excellent and occupants won't even know that the car is cruising at triple-digit speeds. Expansion joints on the highway do not unsettle it. Vertical movement is well-controlled as well.

On long curves, the car holds its line well. When you push it on twisty roads, the stiff suspension shows its benefits. There is very little body roll and the car changes direction without fuss. Our test car came with 235/50 R19 Continental Contact 6 runflat tyres, which provided enough grip for the power on tap.

Steering

The EQA gets an electric power steering, which is very user-friendly. It's light in the city and most owners will appreciate that. The light steering and automatic transmission make the car very easy to drive in the city. At higher speeds, the steering weighs up well. There's no nervous feeling or twitchiness at all while cruising on the highways. The feel is consistent and the steering is very predictable. On the twisty roads, it relays a good amount of feedback.

Braking

The EQA is equipped with disc brakes at the front and rear. The braking performance is strong and the car comes to a halt without any drama. Under hard braking too, the car doesn't lose its composure. Mercedes has equipped the EQA with Active Brake Assist.

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