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Mercedes-AMG, the high-performance subsidiary of Mercedes-Benz, is paving the way ahead with the new SLS AMG that will have an electric drive – a super sportscar which will have no exhaust emissions. It transforms the vision of powerful and emission-free supersports car into reality with an innovative drive system that uses four electric motors with a combined peak output of 392 kW/533 bhp and a maximum torque of 880 Nm. The four electric motors are positioned near the wheels, substantially reducing the unsprung masses compared to wheel-hub motors. One transmission per axle transmits the power.
This intelligent all-wheel-drive system allows dynamically-optimised power transmission without any losses by means of Torque Vectoring – in other words, the specifically targeted acceleration of individual wheels. In its first pilot phase, the SLS AMG with electric drive incorporates a liquid-cooled high-voltage lithium-ion battery of modular design with an energy content of 48 kWh and a capacity of 40Ah. The 400V battery is charged by means of targeted recuperation during braking whilst the car is being driven.
When it comes to dynamics, the electrically-driven SLS AMG is claimed to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in around 4 seconds which would put it in the same performance class as the SLS AMG with a 6.3-litre V8 engine developing 420 kW/571 bhp.
SLS AMG prototype undergoing testing in Arctic conditions
The purely electric drive system was factored into the equation as early as the concept phase when the new swing-wing model was being developed by Mercedes-Benz and AMG. It is ideally packaged for the integration of such advanced technology; by way of example, the four electric motors and the two transmissions can be positioned near the wheels and very low down in the vehicle. The same applies to the modular high-current battery, whose modules are located in front of the firewall, in the centre tunnel and behind the seats.
Advantages of this solution include the vehicle's low centre of gravity and the balanced weight distribution – ideal conditions for optimum handling, which the electrically powered SLS AMG shares with the petrol-driven variant.