Mercedes-AMG CLA 45 EV
Why no score yet: Now announced: three axial-flux motors, 680 hp, torque-vectoring AWD and simulated gearshifts. The involvement engineering is more serious than the spec sheet suggested — provisional read raised accordingly. The Index score still waits for owners to exist.
The long version
Whoever orders first is paying to find out whether a paddle-shift simulation on an EV is something an AMG buyer actually reaches for on a back road, or just a launch-spec talking point — the four-door shape suggests most owners will use it as a very quick commuter and leave the drama switched off. Early allocation will likely go to Affalterbach loyalists hedging that the brand hasn't lost the plot going electric, which tends to produce a small hard-driven minority against a much larger group that drives it exactly like the sedan it replaces. Nothing here is behavior yet, only a bet on buyer intent.