Friday, July 5, 2013

Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Coupe Electric Drive

2014 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Coupe Electric Drive

You know why did Mercedes-Benz's AMG division developed an electric-powered supercar in the form of the SLS AMG? Is it because they're wanted to be as "regular" as "Regular Show"? Or maybe because they are in tune with the times?

I'm afraid not because what lurks behind the electric-powered SLS AMG is enough power and torque from its four electric motors. When all four motors kicked in, 751HP of power and 738lb-ft of torque is more than enough to say, that electric car's got more than the limited edition SLS AMG Black and (!) the old SL65 Black Series, which is known to be AMG's finest. This cross-eyed curiosity is not the kind of supercar you can expect parking in a casino at Monte Carlo. No. What AMG done for the all new SLS AMG Electric Drive is Science Abuse because by abusing all of its eco-car peripherals, the power figures, the torque figures, and all of AMG know-hows, this electric powered sportscar, mated with only one gear (same as the Tesla), can do 0-60mph in 3.9 seconds, which is .4 seconds slower than the SLS AMG Black and annoyingly quicker than the Aston Martin Vanquish.

Of course, to keep it environmentally-friendly and for the concern of other road users, the top speed is limited to a federalized limit of 155mph because anything more than that and the battery and power inverters get all kibosh.

These four electric motors equipped in all four wheels are rather pretty clever because even though it weighs 45kg each, they achieve a maximum individual speed of 13,000 rpm and in each case drive the 4 wheels selectively via a axially-arranged transmission design. The suspension system is now multi-link rather than double-wishbones. The aluminum spaceframe chassis has been tweaked. Blah blah blah blah....

Also, the pricing starts at around 416,500 Euros, which is four times more than its petrol equivalent but it's less than the Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupe and overall, that's more fun to have than a big bulky Phantom Coupe.

That's all so fun but the fun doesn't last for long because first of all, there's the noise. Because this is an all-electric sportscar, it sounds like you're in an airline taking off and that's even more disturbing than listening to space-age music, which is creepy. The petrol-powered SLS sounds like an American car. Fast, simple, and quite cheap. It even sounds like one. Here, on the Electric Drive version, it isn't. Let's not forget that it's four times more than its petrol equivalent and it's still a lot more creepy to drive because of its electric motors that sounds like an Airbus taking off and an approaching Candace will positively spot you and then running to mom, saying that you had an over seven hundred horsepower supercar and then it disappears before mom's showed up.

The fun fact about the SLS Electric Drive that it lapped round the Nurburgring in 7 minutes and 56 seconds, that's the fastest production EV car ever to lap round the green hell, faster than the Audi electric sportscar that it won't be produced until further notice. That's quite shockingly indeed but even with the fun fact, it's still not worth it to have an electric supercar abused by science and I'm sorry, I'd be sticking back to the petrol equivalent.

Photo: Mercedes-Benz

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