Mercedes-Benz recently announced that the B-Class Electric Drive will come with a base MSRP of $41,450 in the US when it hits dealerships starting this Summer.
That's the base price, but there are several options available, all of which will drive up that price. It's rather easy to option a B-Class Electric Drive to a price point above $50,000, but there's one option available that we believe most all B-Class ED buyers will opt for:
P-58 - Range Package (25 - 30%)
Unfortunately, there's no price listed for the range package in this leaked dealer brochure, but we do have a ballpark estimate in regards to range, both with and without the optional range package.
Note the 85 miles of range listed as a provisional EPA figure. This is Mercedes-Benz' estimate as to the range the B-Class ED will receive when rated by the EPA. We should note that Daimler/Mercedes-Benz is almost always spot on in providing a range estimate, so expect the official EPA figure to be 85 miles (+ or - no more than 2 miles).
With the 85-mile figure in hand, some simple math (85 times 30% = 25.5) shows us that the range package boosts total range up to 110.5 miles. That would be the high-side figure. The low-side figure is (85 times 25% = 21.25) 106.25 miles.
As our own Tom Moloughney https://insideevs.com/news/321900/exclusive-mercedes-benz-b-class-electric-drive-range-mode-increases-electric-range-by-15/:
1) The amount of usable energy is 28kWh; that is not the total pack size.
2) The 28kWh represents what is available in “Standard Charge Mode,” which is what the car defaults to.
3) Like the Tesla Model S, you can select “Range Mode” before you begin charging and in doing so you’ll have more of the battery pack available, which will increase your range by approximately 15%
Perhaps the 15% figure was Mercedes-Benz providing us with a conservative number, or maybe the range package provides anywhere from 15% to 30% boost in range. Regardless, this option will be hot and will make the B-Class Electric Drive a true 100-plus mile electric vehicle.
As Moloughney previously wrote:
"This means that by using Range Mode, the driver will likely have 33kWh (or even more) at their disposal. Obviously, this isn’t going to encroach on Tesla-range territory, but it will give the B-Class Electric Drive the ability to claim the longest all-electric range of any electric vehicle (aside from Tesla) available nationwide."
So, if you desire the only non-Tesla (yes, we know the B-Class has Tesla components within, but it's not branded a Tesla) 100-mile EV to soon be available nationwide (sorry Toyota, the RAV4EV is California-only), then the B-Class Electric Drive is your only choice. Just make sure you opt for the range package.
*Special thanks to Tom Moloughney for his contributions to this post.