Charging ahead MOBILE IS A REAL TAX DODGER

for thought. We’re testing an A250e in AMG Line Premium spec, meaning an on-the-road price of £35,980.

It’s the flagship model but you can buy a more basic AMG Line version for £32,980 or spend £34,480 on the AMG Line Executive.

That official electric range of 44 miles means that a commuting owner with off-street parking and a wall charger could go for months without having to fill up with petrol.

The car has a 7.4kW charger – twice the capacity you will find on most PHEVs. It means you can top up the A250e from a public AC charging post in under two hours.

The A250e comes with four driving modes which run from Individual through Sport, Comfort and Eco. You also have a choice of brake regeneration settings, which are the A250e’s Achilles Heel.

By holding down the right-hand shift paddle you put it into a coasting mode, in which you get no regenerative braking when your foot is off the accelerator.

Flick the lefthand paddle a couple of times and you get maximum regeneration in which you barely need to use the brakes.

Mercedes has also an “auto regen” default setting, in which the car uses information from the navigation system and forward sensors to work out how much regeneration

should be applied. In practice you’re never sure what to expect when you lift off the throttle – whether you’re going to get a lot of engine braking or none.

The new A250e is at its best when running in pure EV mode. It’s quiet and commendably brisk, although you’ll be trying to drive it as smoothly as possible to achieve the magic 40 miles range.

If you are in a hurry the A250e will go from 0-62mph in 6.6sec, but this is a machine that will be more likely to captivate the company accountant than the enthusiastic driver.

The rest of this plug-in A-Class is very familiar – it’s fitted out to a good quality inside and boasts Mercedes’ excellent and easy-to-use infotainment system.

No space has been robbed by the batteries, so in practical terms there’s no penalty for the privilege of rarely having to visit a petrol station.