2022 Mercedes-Benz EQA 250 – from RM2,288 monthly with Step Up Agility Financing, leasing also available

Mercedes-Benz Malaysia launched its first full EV, the EQA 250 AMG Line, earlier this month. Priced at RM278,201 on-the-road without insurance, the CBU Germany “electric GLA” is quite good value, being only RM7k costlier than the CKD locally assembled GLA 250 AMG Line, thanks to duty exemption for EVs.

Now, Mercedes-Benz Financial has announced the Step Up Agility Financing programme, which tout monthly payments from as low as RM2,288. For the EQA 250, there are two five-year step up plans available.

With the first option, one pays RM2,288 a month for the first two years followed by RM4,148 monthly for the third to fifth year. The second option is RM2,288 for the first year, followed by RM2,688 for the second year and RM3,994 for the third to fifth year. The difference between Step Up and the regular Agility plan? See the tables below.

2022 Mercedes-Benz EQA 250 – from RM2,288 monthly with Step Up Agility Financing, leasing also available

From L-R: Step Up Agility Financing options; regular Agility Financing vs bank HP loan

The above figures are based on 10% downpayment, but customers can make a bigger DP to further reduce monthly instalments as well as opt for additional insurance coverage and service maintenance. With Guaranteed Future Value, customers can choose to refinance, return or keep the vehicle at the end of the tenure. Choose return and Mercedes-Benz will buy the car back at a pre-determined price.

Another feature that comes with Step Up Agility Financing is MobilityPlus, where customers will be entitled to a replacement car should there be a downtime due to service or repairs. The temporary car will be a Mercedes-Benz, so there’s no “drop in standard” for customers, and the car will be not more than four years old, with free drop off and pick up within 24 hours of approval.

Aside from Step Up Agility Financing, Mercedes-Benz Financial also offers the Lease&Go programme, where customers can lease the EQA 250 for up to four years, starting from RM5,392 a month. While monthly payments for leasing is higher, one does not have to worry about downpayment, depreciation, disposal and insurance/road tax. Mobility Plus is included. It’s rental with a minimum two-year contract, basically.

From L-R: Lease&Go options for the EQA 250; MobilityPlus features

The EQA 250 is powered by a 190 PS/375 Nm electric motor that drives the front wheels through a single-speed gearbox. 0-100 km/h is done in 8.9 seconds and top speed is 160 km/h. The battery is a 66.5 kWh unit and it’s good for 429 km of range from a full charge in the WLTP cycle. At 340L, boot volume down by by about 100 litres compared to the ICE-powered GLA.

The battery can be fully recharged in five hours and 45 minutes using the vehicle’s 11 kW onboard AC charger. DC fast charging up to 100 kW will get the battery from a 10-80% state of charge (SoC) in just 32 minutes. A four-year, unlimited mileage warranty is included, and the EV battery is covered for eight years or 160,000 km.

The first 1,000 EQA customers will receive a free one-year subscription with JomCharge, which means unlimited charging at a 50% discount at all JomCharge charging stations. MBM says that 13 new DC fast chargers will be installed in dealerships this year, and EQ customers can use them at no cost until the end of 2023. More details in our full launch report.

Tags: