Yes, the rumours were true. Mercedes-AMG has effectively confirmed the next-generation C63 will be powered by an electrified four-cylinder petrol engine.
Developed under what the Affalterbach-based division calls the “E Performance drivetrain strategy”, the new hybrid system will be applied to both eight- (in the rumoured GT73, we suspect) and four-cylinder (in the hottest C-Class) engines.
In both cases, the arrangement will include a permanently excited synchronous electric motor, a “high-performance” battery developed in Affalterbach and fully variable AMG Performance 4Matic+ all-wheel drive.
The electric motor will be positioned on the rear axle, integrated with an electrically shifted two-speed transmission and an electronically controlled rear axle differential lock in a “compact” electric drive unit. The 400 V battery is described as “lightweight” (it weighs a claimed 89 kg) and will be sited above the rear axle.
Mercedes-AMG calls the battery “HPB80”, confirming it features a 6,1 kWh capacity, 70 kW of continuous power and 150 kW of peak power (the latter for up to ten seconds). It features direct cooling of the cells.
According to the company, the top version of the AMG Performance Hybrid drivetrain is “technically” able to produce “more than 600 kW system power and over 1 000 N.m system torque”. Depending on the future vehicle, this enables a claimed acceleration from zero to 100 km/h in “less than 3,0 seconds”.
More specifically, the German automaker detailed the electrified 2,0-litre, four-cylinder engine (and its electric exhaust-gas turbocharger) that will “initially be launched in the future generation of the Mercedes-AMG C-Class”.
Mercedes says it has “thoroughly reworked” the M139 engine familiar from the A45 family, “significantly” increasing its performance. In fact, the company reveals its engineers are aiming for the further-developed mill to “once again surpass the world’s highest litre output of all four-cylinder series engines”.
Some of that extra power will come from the new electric exhaust-gas turbocharger, which is operated by the 400 V on-board power supply. Indeed, AMG says the engine will be able to offer “more than 330 kW” (as a reminder, the version in the A45 S makes 310 kW) and will be “combined with an electric motor developing up to 150 kW”.
Accordingly, Mercedes says the total power and torque figures will enable future AMG models (such as the next C63) to “achieve driving performance that even surpasses comparable, current vehicles with V8 engines without hybrid drive”. The accompanying graphic suggests a peak system figure of “over 480 kW”.
Meanwhile, Mercedes-AMG has also confirmed its first battery-electric performance models are coming, based on the fresh Mercedes-EQ architecture. The company says these newcomers will be “ambassadors for a new era in the performance segment of the 43 and 53 series AMG models”.
