The Electric Mercedes C-Class Has Three Screens As Standard

When Mercedes launched the new CLA last year, I was curious to see how the base version looked without the third screen on the dashboard. In the entry-level configuration with zero options, the passenger display made way for a sea of piano-black plastic brimming with three-pointed stars. Better or worse? It depends on who you ask. Some don’t mind the screen overload, while others would welcome a break from it now and then.

For the new C-Class EV, the situation is different, as you’re stuck with all three. The base MBUX setup combines three separate displays under a single piece of glass: a 10.3-inch digital instrument cluster, a 14-inch central infotainment screen, and a “digitally animated trim panel.” The latter is essentially a digital photo frame, as it doesn’t support touch input. Instead, it displays a user-selected image from the infotainment system.

To get a touch-capable passenger display, customers will need to upgrade to the optional Superscreen. Those willing to splurge on the Hyperscreen get a single, continuous 39.1-inch display, eliminating the thick bezels of the other two dashboard layouts. It’s a look we’ve already seen on the electric GLC, and it’s now being applied to another Mercedes EV in the same class.

The combustion-engine C-Class is due for a mid-cycle facelift later this year, and it’ll be interesting to see which direction the ICE model takes. Despite sharing a name, the two cars are fundamentally different, as the new electric model (W520) rides on a dedicated EV platform with no ties to the gas-powered W206 launched in 2021.

The direction Mercedes is taking is clear: it’s going all-in on screens, echoing its main rivals at BMW and Audi. While screens have their advantages by integrating a wide range of functions, they also limit the creative freedom interior designers once had, back when glass-covered displays didn’t dominate dashboards.

Former Mercedes design chief Gorden Wagener told Top Gear last year that supersized displays are a necessity: ‘You want to have a visual reference on the screen, or you might want to watch a movie and stuff like that. So yeah, you need big screens.’

Motor1’s Take: A luxury car should deliver a high-end dashboard aesthetic, which is difficult to achieve when screens dominate the cabin. Even Gorden Wagener admitted in an interview with ABC News last year that “screens are not luxury.” Yet the C-Class EV is filled with them, and it’s hardly an exception.

High-end models like the 2027 S-Class and the upcoming electric AMG GT Four-Door Coupe also feature triple-screen layouts. It’s the direction the Stuttgart-based automaker is taking, and right now, it’s hard to imagine the beautifully crafted switchgear of the past making a comeback.

Hopefully, Mercedes will prove us wrong.