Mercedes-Benz Confirms 526 HP Fully Electric Gullwing
It’s official. Last week, German automaker Mercedes-Benz confirmed its intentions to build a fully electric version of the SLS AMG Supercar.
The AWD car will have separate transmissions for both axles and electric motors at each wheel. With a combined power output of 392 Kw–which packs 649 lb-ft of torque–the car will get a jaw-dropping 526 horsepower.
This will push the zero-emission car from 0 to 62 MPH in just 4 seconds! All of this is available the moment the motors turn. Are you drooling yet? I am.
The Tesla is great, sure. It’s all hot and electric. But the Gullwing is a classic; it’s iconic. For me, this defines the stronghold electric vehicles are bound to have on American culture.
The original Mercedes 300 SL “Gullwing”
Electronic controllers will assure dynamically optimized power transmission by means of torque vectoring. That means the wheel with the most traction gets the most juice.
The motors will be fueled by a 400-volt liquid cooled, high-voltage lithium-ion battery pack delivering 40 Ah of current. The packs will run down the center of the chassis. They can be charged via an electrical outlet and also through regenerative braking.
Since an electric version of the car was considered during its design, no modifications will be needed to the car’s lightweight aluminum frame. In fact, the electrical version is expected to perform on par with the petro-based SLS. Well, except it will be quieter than its V-8 sibling.
“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.
There was no mention of where Mercedes will be picking up these fancy EV parts but I am sure parent corporation Daimler will have some say in it. Daimler owns a big chunk of Tesla Motors. Also undisclosed is the vehicles’ range on a single charge.
Source: Wired’s Autopia
I’m not all that into cars, but this thing is green and sexy as hell!! I totally want one!
The Gullwing that Mercedes made years ago is my fondest dream of a car! This development is really exciting to me
They can’t give any other performance specs on it yet, b/c the 4 second 0-62 test was all it could do before the battery was drained. Figure out a way for a car to travel 300-500 miles per charge (1-4 hour tops, not this 8-10 hour junk) & you’ve got a chance at making people look at this technology… until then, I’ll stick with my combustible-engine horseless buggy.
[...] Confirmación: Mercedes-Benz Gullwing con 526 caballos y motor totalmente eléctrico.[ENG]gas2.org/2009/07/20/mercedes-benz-confirms-526-hp-fully-elec… por golfingles hace pocos segundos [...]
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All i see is a luxury version of the dodge charger….thanks daimler…
This is not revolutionary, as it is built on current technology. There is no fast charging here….you might as well sleep at the gas/charge station.
Also, how far will it go….i dont thing it will go very far in what is required to move it.
Good try though…
40 Ah * 400V * 3600 seconds/hour / 392000 watts = 147 seconds of full power. That’s before taking any Peukert exponent into consideration. Granted, that’s plenty to get up to the car’s top speed, but people usually expect to be able to do that hundreds of times, rather than just a couple, before recharging or filling up.
Zero emissions my lily white arse. Where do you think they’ll get the electricity to charge those fancy batteries? Unless you’ve got a portable windmill or a few acres of PV panels, you’ll probably be sourcing it from a carbon and/or water vapor emitting power plant. In addition, are you foolish enough to believe there were no emissions created in the building of the car? Aluminum smelting requires a tremendous amount of energy.
One other thing, will it get me to work after it’s been sitting in my frozen garage all night?
Perhaps my calculations are way off, but If the batteries are capable of 400V at 40 Amp hours, they can provide 16,000 Watts for 40 hours. If all the power is drawn in one hour, then the batteries will provide 40 times that wattage for one hour (or somewhere over 500,000 Watts for that one hour).
THE motors can use as much as 392,000 Watts of power (526 Horsepower - 746 Watts times 526).
Wouldn’t that give the batteries an hour of usage at full power?
[...] All-Electric SLS Confirmed by MB, evidently! [...]