About a couple of years ago; Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche, confirmed that Mercedes Benz will release an electric version of the Mercedes Benz SLS AMG. The all-electric supercar is said to be available by 2013. The car is said to make around close to 600bhp coupled with a lithium-ion battery pack.
Fast forward to today, the above mentioned supercar is ready and now it is known as the Mercedes Benz SLS AMG Electric Drive. It is scheduled to go on sale by the middle of next year and it makes much more power than the earlier promised power figures.
The SLS AMG Electric Drive makes an astonishing 740bhp and 999Nm of torque, powering all four wheels. This makes the car the most powerful electric car in the market and also in the AMG line-up. The company stated that the SLS AMG Electric Drive is capable of completing the century sprint in less than 3.9 seconds and will easily reach its top speed of 250km (electronically limited).
To compare it with the normal petrol powered Mercedes Benz SLS AMG, the 580bhp SLS AMG completes the century sprint in 3.6 seconds (not much of a significant difference). This is possible due to it not being burdened by a heavy battery pack. The SLS AMG Electric Drive’s battery pack weighs around 550 kg and it is rated at 60kWh (80bhp).
The battery pack has a driving range of around 241km and it takes more than 20 hours for a single charge, if a normal household power outlet is used. Mercedes Benz is currently developing a quick charge option. Due to the addition of the all wheel drive, the front suspension had to be redesigned. The SLS AMG Electric Drive features an independent multilink suspension with pushrod damper struts while the normal SLS AMG features a double wishbone axle.
To compensate the extra weight brought by the battery pack and the suspension redesign, the SLS AMG Electric Drive’s body is made out of aluminium. And the biggest difference between the normal version and the Electric Drive is the centre grille.
Handling is expected to be superb due to the car having four motors which are individually mounted to each wheel via an axially arranged transmission design. A new AMG Torque Dynamics system controls the torque of each motor and the system precisely controls the torque of each individual wheel to give a better grip across a wide range of conditions.
Pricing of the car will begin at €416,000 (S$ 659,588). Sales for the Mercedes Benz SLS AMG are initially planned for the European market and it is not known at the moment whether the car will be made available in other areas as well.
Photo credit: Left Lane News
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