Mercedes CLA 350 Electric Vehicle Battery Safety Concern

Our Mercedes-Benz CLA 350 fully electric vehicle was involved in an accident on 06/03/2026, during which the battery sustained an impact. Since that date, the vehicle has been kept at the authorized Gelecek Otomotiv service center in Kağıthane, Istanbul. However, despite the vehicle being inspected at the authorized service center, we have learned that Mercedes-Benz itself issued a report stating that the battery is still considered “usable.”

We find it absolutely unacceptable, both from a technical and life-safety perspective, that a fully electric vehicle with a battery that has sustained physical impact damage is being approved for repair rather than being classified as a total loss. As customers, we are genuinely afraid to use this vehicle again, yet we are being asked to accept a repaired version of a car whose battery integrity has already been compromised. In the event of a future battery malfunction, thermal runaway incident, or fire occurring while the vehicle is in traffic, we cannot even get a clear answer regarding who would take responsibility for such a risk.

The vehicle’s license plate number is 34 BRY 029, and the file/reference number is 40/17164291. Our insurance provider is Türkiye Sigorta. The process has effectively become blocked because, although we believe the vehicle should be classified as a total loss, Mercedes-Benz issued a repair-oriented report instead. We also discussed the matter with the damage manager at Gelecek Otomotiv, but the decision remained unchanged.

We believe that issuing a “usable” report for an electric vehicle battery that has suffered impact damage is an extremely serious safety risk from both technical and operational standpoints. For this reason, we request that Mercedes-Benz re-evaluate the report in a far more detailed and transparent manner, reconsider the battery safety assessment, update the report accordingly, and classify the vehicle as a total loss rather than attempting repair.