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Electrification is gaining some serious traction over at Mercedes-Benz Malaysia, what with the company having announced a trio of all-electric offerings last month. However, the distinction of being the first in the new offensive belongs to the Mercedes-Benz EQA 250 AMG Line. The crossover became the company’s first fully electric offering for the Malaysian market when it was introduced in March this year.
Having sampled the car, Hafriz Shah says that while the EQA 250 may appear underwhelming on paper, especially with less than half the power of a similarly-priced Volvo XC40 Electric, numbers don’t always determine how things eventually shape up. Indeed, our man found the car to be really likeable, and more than the sum of its parts – watch the video to see why he thinks so.
The fully-imported EQA shares the same MFA2 platform with the H247 GLA, but adapted to accommodate the switch to electric propulsion. The biggest change, aside from additional weight, is that the EV sacrifices some boot space to allow placement of the battery modules, with the EQA offering 340 litres of boot space instead of the 435 litres found in the GLA.
To help differentiate the EV from its petrol sibling, the EQA gets an EQ-specific front fascia featuring a closed-off grille in gloss black and a new design for the headlamps, with blue detailing. The taillights have the same rectangular graphics as the GLA, but they are conjoined to form a full-width unit. An AMG Line package offers the car a sportier presentation, and exterior specifications include LED High Performance headlamps (with Adaptive Highbeam Assist) and 19-inch AMG five-twin-spoke light-alloy wheels.
Inside, the EQA 250 features Artico man-made leather/Dinamica microfibre upholstery, black-pore linden wood trim, a Nappa leather steering wheel as well as illuminated and EQ-branded door sills. There’s of course the usual twin 10.25-inch digital instrument and infotainment displays, part of the Mercedes-Benz User Experience (MBUX) system.
Also on are powered/ventilated front seats with a memory function, a Thermotronic dual-zone climate control (with rear vents), an ambient lighting system, Keyless-Go and a hands-free powered tailgate.
Motive power is provided by a front-mounted electric motor offering 188 hp (190 PS or 140 kW) and 375 Nm, and this is good enough to get the EQA from standstill to 100 km/h in 8.9 seconds and to a top speed of 160 km/h. The motor is juiced by a 66.5 kWh liquid-cooled, 420-volt lithium-ion battery, which offers the car a travel range of up to 429 km on a single charge (WLTP cycle).
The battery can be fully recharged in five hours and 45 minutes via the AC route (11 kW, Type 2), while DC fast charging at up to 100 kW with an appropriate charger can get the pack from a 10% to 80% state of charge (SoC) in just 32 minutes.
The EQA 250 AMG Line is priced at RM286,888, on-the-road without insurance. It comes with a four-year, unlimited mileage warranty, while the EV battery is covered for eight years or 160,000 km, whichever comes first.
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