AMG going large on electric charge

High voltage battle lines have officially hit the circuit … er, auto industry, as Mercedes-Benz announced development of an electric version of the much-anticipated SLS supercar is in full swing at AMG’s Affalterbach headquarters.By Kyle Kock

It really is great to see the likes of Mercedes-Benz having a crack at the electric vehicle - traditionally the domain of nondescript low emissions hybrid hatchbacks like Toyota’s Prius, Honda’s Insight, and the quirky Mitsubishi i-Miev minicar.

High-performance production electric cars are a scarcer breed – a roost which the Fiskers and Teslas of this world are attempting to rule, but the Karma S and especially the Tesla Roadster Sport, have to deal with new competition - backed up by AMG credentials.

As reported previously, the SLS electric drive will appear much like its petro-powered V8-engined sibling on the exterior, and actually requires no extra plumbing to accommodate its electric powertrain – which consists of four electric motors situated close to each wheel and one transmission per axle for optimised all-wheel drive via torque-vectoring, the specific acceleration of individual wheels.

Located where the transmission tunnel would traditionally be, is a large, high-voltage lithium-ion battery pack – which is recharged by a plug-in system as well as regenerative braking. This liquid-cooled leviathan battery also adds a significant amount of weight to the SLS, but the aluminium spaceframe has been designed in a way that mounts the lithium-ion unit and the rest of the electric essentials very low in the chassis – which improves the car’s centre of gravity and weight distribution.

"With the SLS AMG with electric drive, we wanted to redefine the super sports car. For us, it is not just about responsibility. We attach just as much importance to excitement and classic AMG performance," says Volker Mornhinweg, Chief Executive Officer of Mercedes-AMG GmbH.

And just to emphasize that electric supercars don’t have to be boring, the four electric motors that generate the SLS eDrive’s forward thrust produce a combined 392 kW and 880 N.m of torque – enough for a zero to 100 km/h sprint of 4,0 seconds. Mercedes-Benz left out minor information like its top speed, how much mileage it’s capable of on a single charge and when it officially goes on sale – but at least we now know they’re building it. Beat that, Tesla.