Mercedes-Benz A250 vs Mercedes-Benz A45

What's the difference?

The A 250 e is a really interesting option in an evolving electrified landscape.

Not only is it a demonstration Mercedes is going to have a real go at plug-in hybrid cars in Australia, it also offers those who may be curious about an electrified vehicle a way of experiencing it on their terms.

The compromises are clear-cut, though. You can drive the A 250 e in any way you're comfortable with, but it's never going to be quite as good as a purpose-built EV, hybrid, or combustion car.

The Mercedes-AMG A 45 4Matic+ may have grown up a bit in that it’s not as noisy or uncomfortable as the first-generation version which arrived in 2013, But if anything, its more portent than ever. Superb Mercedes-AMG craftmanship, outstanding performance and good value as far as bang for your buck goes.

Similar to its GLC 300 e bigger sibling, you'd be hard-pressed to tell the A 250 e is a PHEV at all. There's very little about it which screams ‘eco' until you look a little closer. Only keen Mercedes enthusiasts will pick the eco-look wheels, with the only other two give aways being the lack of an exhaust and fuel flaps on both sides.

Other than those items, the A 250 e's exterior is the normal A-Class fare of slick but conservative Mercedes styling, gently accented with elements of chrome and black.

Inside is the same deal. It has all the same elements which make Mercedes' small car range unique and flashy to be behind the wheel of.

Our car had a controversial contrasting crème interior, but I have to say I much prefer the piano black trim items to the in-your-face chrome ones which usually come in these Benz small cars.

Obviously, there's a healthy options list to help you customise it further, but I'm a fan of the soft dash elements, and how the ‘Artico' trim is generously placed throughout to remind you this is a premium badged car.

I do like how Mercedes stands out from the crowd when it comes to its signature vent layout, dual-screens and everything from the lavish front seats to the wheel.

I especially like the blue colour our hatch came in, as you usually only see Benz cars in white, grey, silver, or black. Buy colours!

The 'MBUX' multimedia suite is also lightening fast and very customisable when it comes to its layout and look. I'd say its one of the best suites on the market, although interacting with it via the touch elements on the wheel and centre pad can be a bit fiddly.

When I went to pick up the Mercedes-AMG A 45 S 4Matic+ I walked right past it and then like that lost and confused John Travolta in Pulp Fiction internet memes, wandered around before asking where the car was.

That’s because I was looking for something with a gigantic spoiler on the roof and probably hi-vis green with stripes. But the car assigned to me was the A 45 S in its standard form, and the styling is subtle enough for it disappear into a crowded car park like James Bond into a lavish dinner party.

But like Bond, chances are the A 45 S is the most hardcore person in the room, it just doesn’t walk in announcing it to everybody.

Look closely and you'll see that the A 45 S is not just another small prestige car. There’s the 90mm quad exhaust poking out of the chunky diffuser, the giant 'Panamericana' grille, and the angry looking front apron.

Then, there are the 19-inch matt black alloy wheels wrapped in low-profile Michelin rubber and enormous brake discs with their red calipers, all barely contained by the pumped up front wheel guards which are much bigger than those on a regular A-Class.

The cost option my test car wore was the 'Mountain Grey Metallic' paint, but if anything it made the A 45 look even more covert.

The cabin is small but luxurious and sporty with two-tone leather upholstery (the red and black 'Lugano' leather in my test car is a no-cost option), there’s the microfibre-clad AMG steering wheel, brushed aluminium trim, metal-trimmed pedals and the large display panel (it’s actually two screens joined) is also standard.

The A 45 S is a hatchback measuring 4445mm in length, 1850mm wide and 1412mm tall. Not keen on a hatch but want something with similar dimensions? The CLA 45 S is the A 45 S’s four-door twin-under-the-skin and is just as much of a weapon.

And if you want your A 45 S to look more aggressive, you can option the 'AMG Aero Package' which will see a giant rear wing fitted to the roof.

Or you can buy the Edition 1 version of the A 45 S which includes the big spoiler and shouty design bits to makes sure everybody knows you’re the assassin in the room.

Like all A-Class hatchbacks, this Benz is centred pretty much solely around the front two passengers. Both get lavish seat trims and lovely touchpoints, easily a cut above mass market rivals. 

Space perhaps isn't this car's forte, with the A- and B-pillars cascading inwards for a low roofline and a comfortable but not spacious interior width. 

Raised console elements and elbow resting points add to the primo feel, but visibility is limited from the tiny wing mirrors and small rear window.

Front passengers get some large binnacles in the door trims, cupholders in the front, a decently sized centre console box housing two USB ports, a surprisingly large glove box, and a shallow bay for wireless phone charging up front.

All three USB ports available to front passengers are USB-C type so you'll also need to be ready with some adapters.

Rear passengers get the same lovely sculpted seat trims, but it is limited back there for someone my 182cm (6'0") height and the large front passenger seats, low roofline, and smallish window apertures make for a tight-feeling space. 

There are nettings on the back of the front seats, small binnacles in the doors and a tiny shelf on the back of the centre console.

There are no amenities like adjustable air vents or charging ports for rear passengers, although the two USB-C jacks located in the centre console box should be within reach.

Boot space is an interesting story. Mercedes has packaged the electric elements in this car to consume the least amount of space possible. So, despite a relatively large and water-cooed lithium-ion battery under the boot floor, and 35-litre fuel tank in front of the rear axle, the hatchback as tested here only loses 45-litres compared to its non-hybrid version. No mean feat.

This makes total space available a decent 310 litres (VDA). You'll get a little more in the sedan version of this car, and it is larger than the Audi A3 40 TFSI e which offers 280L.

Along with good performance and handling, part of the appeal of hot hatches is that they’re practical… to a degree. The A 45 S is a small car, but it has four doors, five seats and a boot.

The cabin is small, no doubt about it, but even at 191cm tall I had plenty of room while driving, the seating position is perfect actually, although sitting behind my driving position saw my knees just touching the seat back.

Headroom is getting limited back there, but I still had space. Could you get away with the A 45 S as a family car? I had my family in it for a while, but there’s just the three of us and my son is pre-school-aged. So, a young, small family, yes… until it starts to grow.

Cabin storage is good with two cupholders in the rear centre fold-down armrest along with small door pockets and seat-back nets. Up front there are another two cupholders, giant door pockets, a big split-opening centre console bin and a tray for the wireless charger big enough to fit an iPhone 11 Pro Max.   

Boot space is good at 370 litres. The big shiny CarsGuide suitcase fitted in easily (see images) and apart from the wide-opening of the boot, another hatch power of practicality is that you can fold the rear seats down to open up more cargo carrying space, and in the A 45 S’s case that’s 1210 litres.

I’ve mentioned the wireless charger but there are also four USB-C ports (two up front and two in the rear), back seat passengers also have directional air vents, which is another bonus, along with dark tinted windows (welcome when my son was sitting back there in his car seat).

The new Mercedes-AMG A 45 S 4Matic+ lists for $93,600. Coming standard are the 19-inch matt black alloy wheels, the quad exhaust and chunky diffuser, Panamericana grille and AMG front apron, the red brake calipers, small roof-top spoiler and privacy rear glass.

Inside, the A45 S comes standard with sport seats and tone-tone leather upholstery – there’s ‘Yellow cut’ leather with contrasting yellow top stitching (or in the case of our car the no-cost option of red and black Lugano leather), and an AMG Performance steering wheel clad in 'Dinamica' microfibre.

Also standard is the large landscape display which is actually two 10.25-inch screens; one for the digital instrument cluster and another for the media system.

There’s also Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, sat nav, a Burmester stereo, 'Mercedes Me' (voice recognition) assistant, digital radio, wireless phone charging, power adjustable and heated front seats, dual-zone climate control, ambient lighting, proximity key, LED headlights and a panoramic sunroof.

The only feature I felt was missing was a head-up display, which needs to be optioned.

In the first year of sale (until the end of 2020) an Edition 1 version of the A 45 S will be sold. Listing for $101,690 the limited edition comes with a tougher look thanks to the addition of the AMG aero package which fits the giant rear wing, along with 19-inch twin-spoke matte black alloy wheels, door decals and AMG performance seats. Oh, and it only comes in 'Sun Yellow.'

Rivals to the Mercedes-AMG A 45 S 4Matic+ come in the form of Audi’s RS3 Avant, the BMW M2 or, and this may seem like an odd suggestion, the Tesla Model 3 hatch. The latter is a pure electric vehicle but has a 0-100km/h time of 3.4 seconds and an output of 335kW… just saying.

Sitting under the A 45 S 4Matic+ in the A-Class range is the A 35 4Matic for a list price of $69,300. The A35 doesn’t come with the big Panamericana grille and the 2.0-litre engine has a lower output but still packs an impressive 225kW/400Nm.

This is where most of your money goes. Up front, the A 250 e gets a familiar 1.3-litre four-cylinder petrol engine, used elsewhere in Mercedes range.

This engine produces 118kW/250Nm and drives the front-wheels via an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.

This transmission also houses the electric motor, which is powerful for a hybrid this size, offering 75kW/300Nm for a healthy amount of cruising power without engine assistance.

These two combine for a massive output of 160kW/450Nm, with the electric motor and petrol engine working in tandem under heavy acceleration for a 0-100km/h sprint time of 6.6 seconds.

The A 250 e houses a 15.6kWh water-cooled lithium-ion battery under the boot floor to power said motor. This is, again, large for a hybrid this size, and grants an electric-only range of 73 kilometres (ADR) despite weighing in at just 150kg.

As the battery and fuel tank have moved in the way of where the exhaust port normally is, Mercedes has placed the entire exhaust system in the transmission tunnel which normally houses the 4Matic all-wheel drive system on the A 250 variant. Interesting stuff.

There may be hot hatches out there which look wilder than the Mercedes-AMG A 45 S 4Matic+ but do they have the most powerful four-cylinder engine ever to go into a mass-produced car? Nope, but the A45 does: it’s a 310kW/500Nm turbo-petrol four.

It doesn’t sound as angry and gravelly as the previous A 45’s engine but it has more grunt (an extra 30kW/25Nm) and is claimed to catapult the hatch from 0-100km/h in 3.9 seconds.

The '4Matic' part of the name indicates the hatch is all-wheel drive and the '+' means it’s a more sophisticated version of the system which allows all of the drive to be sent to one axle, if need be.

What need would that be? The need to drift, of course, which should be up there with other human rights such as clean air, fresh water and free speech.

Yep, the A 45 S comes with 'Drift Mode' (for the racetrack, of course), along with a 'Launch Mode' for perfect-every-time transitions to warp speed.

Changing gears gunslinger-fast is an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.

All this jiggery-pokery makes for all sorts of very impressive fuel consumption numbers. This car's official one is just 1.6L/100km, although this is going to vary wildly by how you drive it (more on this in the driving section).

Fuel consumption is just one element of this car's drivetrain though. You'll also need to consider energy consumption which is officially rated at 14.8kWh/100km.

You can think of these two consumption elements as a sliding scale. The more you can use the electric motor and regeneration features, the lower your fuel consumption will be, conversely if you drive under primarily petrol or hybrid power, you'll be able to lower your energy consumption.

Read the driving section for more on how this particular car gives you unprecedented control over this.

We had the A 250 e for just three days and managed to cover roughly 250km, I was thoroughly testing each drive mode as much as possible, and my final consumption figures came out 6.9L/100km of fuel consumption, and 5.9Kwh/100km of energy consumption.

If I had more time to charge, it was evident these numbers would have been altered drastically. Hopefully we'll be able to bring you a longer and more comprehensive Urban Guide test of this vehicle in the future.

Somehow, there is still more to the story, with this Mercedes offering a fascinating option pack which makes it even more flexible when it comes to charging.

The DC charging pack comes in at $1490 and lets you charge not just at regular public Type 2 ports, but also at ultra-fast DC locations. It also doubles the amount of power this car can pull from public outlets or a wallbox.

Keep in mind this car only comes with a regular wall socket to Type2 charger. This means to make use of fast charging at home (up to 7.2kW) you'll need to add the Mercedes-Benz Wallbox ($1200 not including installation by JetCharge) and to make the most of it when you're out and about (or if you don't have a garage) you'll need the public (Type2 to Type2) charging cable ($565.16).

See below for Mercedes' estimate of charging time for each of the charging options.

The A 250 e has a 35-litre fuel tank and a thirst for mid-grade 95 RON unleaded petrol. Oh, and if it's emissions you're conscious of, the A 250 e officially emits just 34g/km of CO2, far lower than the roughly 140g/km industry targets.

Mercedes-AMG says the 2.0-litre, turbo-petrol, four-cylinder in the A 45 S should use 8.9L/100km after a combination of open and urban driving.

My fuel test saw me drive 131km of urban and country roads, plus some motorway sections, and needed 16.9L of premium unleaded petrol to fill the 51-litre tank back to full.

That comes to 12.9L/100km, which is thirsty, but my driving style may have contributed significantly to that high figure.

The A 250 e is as interesting behind the wheel as it is on paper. To really explore it though, you'll need to delve into its complex drive modes.

It's more than just your usual comfort, eco, and sport. Each mode transforms the way you'll think about and drive this car.

The default is comfort, where the A 250 e behaves like you might expect from a plug-in. This means it will prefer to use electric drive unless you push the accelerator very hard. It makes for smooth and quiet motoring, although you'll find it chews through the electric range quite quickly, especially if you venture to the open road.

Sport mode prefers instead to primarily rely on the 1.3-litre four-cylinder engine. It's notably less refined, with this engine having a loud, gruff tone, and the introduction of vibrations and jerkiness from the dual-clutch automatic becomes immediately apparent.

It also firms up the steering, changes the transmission characteristics, and offers faster engine response from the accelerator pedal. As a side note, sport mode becomes a good tool for charging the battery quickly when you don't have access to a charging port.

The more interesting modes are electric, eco, and battery level. Battery level attempts to maintain the level the battery is currently at, while still using the car's hybrid features. This is so you can save the lion's share of charge for when it's most useful, like trawling in traffic.

Electric does what it says on the tin. Operates the car as an EV, not using its combustion engine at all. It also changes the car's paddle shifters from operating the transmission to altering the regenerative braking.

It offers modes varying from D+ which uses electric drive but coasts like a combustion car, to D-- which makes the car drive like a ‘single pedal' vehicle. This means it ups the regen braking to the point where the car will come to a full stop as you let your foot off the accelerator. It's the most efficient electric motoring mode.

Finally, eco mode lets you drive the A 250 e more like a conventional hybrid, limiting the electric motor to just taking off and cruising, preferring to switch to combustion more rapidly on acceleration.

While this car offers you unparalleled choice when it comes to electric motoring, it's worth noting it comes with its fair share of compromise.

This is far from the most refined car to drive in combustion mode, and it lacks the polish of, say, a Toyota hybrid when operating as a more traditional hybrid car.

I find it particularly interesting this car's best traits are found when it's operating as a purely electric vehicle. It's quieter, more refined, and the overpowered electric motor helps it feel just as good as a pure EV in terms of acceleration.

This car's downfalls as a combustion vehicle will be a real challenge for it. Again, it's a trade-off. The A 250 e doesn't feeel any heavier or more cumbersome than a 'normal' A-Class despite the extra battery size. But the ride is a bit harsh, and the dual-clutch leaves a lot to be desired in terms of refinement.

Asking more than $60 grand still seems tall when it's not as slick as a VW combustion car, and not as polished as a Toyota hybrid, either of which are half the price.

I wasn’t lying in the introduction to this review. The previous A45 was a pretty intense driving experience. The ride felt brutal, the exhaust note screamed and crackled like somebody had set a wheelie bin full of fireworks alight.

And then there was the sweating. I seemed to sweat a lot driving it and there was nothing wrong with the climate control, that just happens to me when I’m under pressure and excited.

So, has the new-generation A 45 S 4Matic+ gone all soft and quiet on us? No, but things have been toned down a tad.

The exhaust note is not as gruff or loud, and even in 'Sport +' and 'Race' mode it’s still quiet enough to pull into a driveway at night without making enemies of your neighbours.

And the ride is also not as harsh, although even in 'Comfort' mode my wife still found it verging on too firm.

The performance and dynamics, however, felt as sharp as ever.

Acceleration is supercar quick at 3.9 seconds. My gawd, you needed a Ferrari F40 to do that in the mid-’80s, and even now the new Mercedes-AMG GT S supercar gets there only a tenth of a second earlier, and it has a twin-turbo V8.

Top speed for the A 45 S is electronically limited to 270km/h. But hot hatches aren’t really about straight-line speed, they’re more about bent-line speed. You know, corners.

So, I took the A 45 S on the twisty roads I take anything that calls itself sporty. The agility of the A 45 S is outstanding thanks to a rigid chassis that handles a change in direction as quickly and easily as you can turn your head.

The brakes bite hard when they have to, and the all-wheel drive hatch scrambles tenaciously out of corners.

A racetrack is really the best place to truly test a serious sports car's limits and our own James Cleary did just that when he drove the A 45 S at its international launch.

As a daily driver, though, for somebody who occasionally likes to get into it on a curvy road the A 45 S is comfortable enough to live with, but hard enough to remain engaging and dynamic when you get the chance to have a squirt.

The Mercedes-AMG A 45 S 4Matic+ received the maximum five-star score when it was tested by ANCAP in 2018.

The safety equipment list is impressive. Along with nine airbags and a 360-degree camera there’s advanced safety tech such as AEB with cross traffic function, blind spot warning, lane keeping assistance, lane change assistance, auto parking and adaptive cruise control.

For child seats there are three top tether points and two ISOFIX mounts across the second row. Small hatches are the easiest cars to put top tether seats in thanks to the good access to the hook point. I fitted my son’s car seat into the back of the A45 S without any problems.

Mercedes has caught up with most of the mainstream pack, now offering a five-year and unlimited kilometre warranty across its whole passenger car range. It's ahead of many of its rivals in the luxury segment, but matched by Korean newcomer, Genesis.

The A 250 e needs to be serviced once a year or every 25,000km, and pricing is no different from a non-electrified A 250. Pre-packaged service pricing for three years is $2050, four years is $2950, and five years is $3500.

Not ‘cheap' in the grander scheme, but there's no downside for picking this particular variant despite all of its extra equipment.

The Mercedes-AMG A 45 S 4Matic+ is covered by a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty.

Servicing is recommended at 12 month/20,000km intervals. Servicing is capped at $850 for the first year’s visit, $1200 for the next and $1600 for the third.