Mercedes E 300 de Estate EV charger: which one fits best?
The Mercedes E 300 de Estate is a diesel plug-in hybrid with a 13.5 kWh battery. Its onboard charger takes 7.4 kW. That charger runs on one phase, and that single detail decides the whole choice. Most home connections have three live wires. This Mercedes reaches only one of them at a time.
Here the bigger charger is the slower one. On a three-phase 11 kW unit this car can use only one of those three phases. It falls back to 3.7 kW. The battery is small, so it fills quickly either way, but there is no reason to wait twice as long. The saloon and the petrol plug-in charge differently again. Our overview of Mercedes EV chargers has the numbers for each.
For the Mercedes E 300 de Estate we recommend a charger from our 7.4 kW EV chargers.
Charging specifications of the Mercedes E 300 de Estate
Two terms return in the table. AC is the alternating current you charge with at home. DC is the direct current a public rapid charger delivers.
| Specification | Value |
|---|---|
| Battery capacity | 13.5 kWh gross (Mercedes publishes no usable figure) |
| Max. AC charging power (home) | 7.4 kW (single-phase, 32 A) |
| Power on a three-phase 11 kW charger | 3.7 kW |
| Electric range (WLTP) | 50 km |
| Charging time with a 7.4 kW single-phase charger | approx. 2 hours |
| Charging time with a three-phase 11 kW charger | approx. 3.5 hours |
| Charging connector | Type 2 |
| DC fast charging | Not available |
Which EV charger suits the Mercedes E 300 de Estate?
The 7.4 kW category is single-phase at 32 A, which is exactly what this car asks for. It reaches its full power and the battery is full in about two hours. Step up to a three-phase 11 kW unit and the car takes only one phase, at 16 A. That is 3.7 kW, so the same charge now runs to three and a half hours. Nor does a 22 kW unit help: 7.4 kW is all the car will take.
There is one honest trade-off to name. A MID meter is a certified kWh meter inside the charger. It keeps your charging separate from the rest of the house on paper. In our range no 7.4 kW model has one: certified meters start at our 11 kW EV chargers. So the charger that suits this Mercedes best is also the one without a meter. Does measuring matter more to you than speed? Our chargers with a MID meter show where the feature begins. The widest choice sits at 22 kW.
The 7.4 kW models do offer two things that suit this car well. Solar surplus charging feeds the car with the power your panels are exporting rather than selling it back. With a 13.5 kWh battery, a sunny afternoon can cover a whole electric day. An app can also pin the charge to a cheap window, for the days the sun does not show up. Both are available at this power: see our solar EV chargers and our EV chargers with an app.
Like almost every charger, the E 300 de Estate uses type 2. Keep a type 2 charging cable in the boot for public posts, and the fixed cable at home does the rest. Our home EV chargers show the full home range.
How long does the Mercedes E 300 de Estate take to charge?
Work it out and the number is small. A 13.5 kWh battery at 7.4 kW comes to roughly two hours from empty. Mercedes publishes no usable capacity, so that figure uses the 13.5 kWh gross number. In daily use you rarely arrive empty, so a top-up is often done within the hour.
On a three-phase 11 kW charger the car draws one phase only. The same battery then needs about three and a half hours. There is no DC port on this plug-in hybrid at all. Beyond the first 50 kilometres the diesel engine takes over, so you never depend on a charging stop.
Other versions of the Mercedes E-Class plug-in
Wallbox Discounter also has charging advice for the other plug-in versions of the E-Class:
- Mercedes E 300 de, the same diesel hybrid as a saloon
- Mercedes E 300 e Limousine, the petrol plug-in variant
- Mercedes E 350e Plug-in
Frequently asked questions
Does the Mercedes E 300 de Estate charge faster on an 11 kW or 22 kW charger?
No, and on an 11 kW unit it actually charges slower. An 11 kW unit offers 16 A per phase, and this car uses one of them, so it settles at 3.7 kW. A 22 kW unit gives 32 A per phase, so there the car does reach its full 7.4 kW. A single-phase 7.4 kW charger is cheaper than either and just as fast.
Do I need an EV charger with a MID meter?
It depends on what you want from it. A MID meter shows precisely what the car costs you at home, separately from the rest of the house. On this Mercedes that comes at a price, because certified meters start at 11 kW in our range. Choosing one means accepting 3.7 kW instead of 7.4 kW, so weigh measuring against speed before you decide.
Does the installation have to be done by a qualified electrician?
We strongly recommend it, and in several countries the wiring behind your meter is regulated work. We arrange installation in the Netherlands, Flemish Belgium and Germany. In the first two you can book it with your order. In Germany it runs through a free quotation instead. We ship worldwide, but installation stays within those three countries.