Mercedes-AMG charges towards EVs

Mercedes-Benz's new EQ electric vehicle division seems certain to include at least one AMG performance model.

Mercedes-AMG Chairman Tobias Moers confirmed that was a strategy being mulled internally as Benz builds up to the launch of the first EQ model, the EQ C.

First revealed as the EQ concept at the Paris motor show in 2016, the production EQ C was last week teased in a video showing it winter testing in camouflage.

The EQ C is scheduled to be unveiled in late 2018 before going on sale in 2019, while a smaller EQ A will go on sale in 2020. All up, Benz has so far promised to roll out 10 battery-electric EQ models by 2025.

Moers made it clear a final decision had not been made on AMG's EV strategy, but confirmed the hot tuner would not be doing a pumped-up version of the EQ C. Beyond that it's another story.

"There is going to be the battery-driven cars," Moers told Australian media at a Geneva motor show roundtable interview.

"Maybe we are going to pick one out of the new BEVs and going to make an AMG derivative out of that. There is nothing excluded, but finally nothing included as well.

"EQ C is coming to the market nearby and expect next variants, next cars coming 2020 and then ongoing, so not necessarily EQ C but maybe the cars after EQ C."

Mercedes-AMG has dabbled previously with electrification, developing the limited-run 2013 SLS E-Cell (pictured).

Its first mild hybrid, the CLS 53 four-door coupe, is rolling out now, while the upcoming GT 4-Door will be AMG's first plug-in model, in 2020.

Electrified Mercedes-AMG models are expected to be badged EQ Power+, like the Mercedes-AMG F1 car.

Moers is clearly enthused about the mass arrival of EVs and the new opportunity electrification presents AMG.

"AMG is [a] worldwide operating company and we are in the performance segment, and in the performance segment I think that hybridisation and electrification is going to be the key," he said.

"You can think on a new dimension. It gives you a lot of room to think different and this is what we do."

Moers also made it clear that an AMG EV would not necessarily have to be the top performance model in the range.

"With the portfolio we have as of today; 43s, then in the future the 35s, the 45s, the 53s, it must not be necessary the top-end performing car is a battery-driven car -- it could be something in our portfolio.

"This is where we are working on. There is nothing finally decided but we are working on it."

Moers also revealed that part of AMG's EV study included the vexed subject of noise, a particular issue given the traditionally boisterous nature of the brand's V8 soundtrack.

"We work on that as well. Two teams working on gas-intake artificial noise … we are not finally done with what could be our sound. What is our brand sound for electric-driven cars? That work is still in progress."

One victim of AMG's move to electrification will be the V12 engine. While it will continue in the mainstream Benz line-up, Moers said there would be no S 65 in the next-generation S-Class line-up.

"If we would like to keep that engine in our brand there would be a need to have a complete, maybe from the ground up, redesign of the engine," he said.

Benz goes diesel-electric

Meanwhile, AMG used the Geneva show to roll out its new-generation 'EQ Power' plug-in hybrid models.

The C 300de and E 300de are Benz's first diesel plug-in hybrids and use the company's third-generation PHEV tech, which extends EV-only range from 30km to a claimed 50km.

The two cars use the new OM 654 turbo-diesel 2.0-litre four-cylinder and go on sale in Europe from around August.

They are under consideration for Australia, while the latest S 560e plug-in, which combines Benz's third-gen hybrid tech with a 3.0-litre turbo-petrol V6, is already confirmed for Australia this year.

But Benz's Australian interest is more toward the forthcoming petrol-electric plug-in versions of the C and E. They will use a version of the new OM 264 four-cylinder that has yet to be revealed.

A new connected variant of the Mercedes-Benz wallbox is also under consideration for Australia. No firm timing is being touted as yet.

Benz currently offers the petrol-electric C 350e and E 350e in Australia and dropped the S-Class S500e for the mid-life update introduced in Australia in January in preparation for the S 560e's Q4 arrival.

The new diesel plug-ins upgrade from a seven-speed automatic transmission to the latest 9G-Tronic hybrid nine-speed auto.

The electric motor provides 90kW and an extra 440Nm, up from 60kW and 340Nm. The engine and motor's combined system output is 225kW and 700Nm. That compares to the current C 350e's 205kW/600Nm and the E 350e's 210kW/550Nm.

While the physical size of the lithium-ion battery is unchanged, thanks to new chemistry the storage capacity has been boosted from 6.38 kiloWatt hours to 13.5kWh. Cell capacity jumps from 22 amp-hours to 37Ah.

A new onboard charger doubles the charging rate from 3.6 to 7.2kW. Benz claims a discharged battery can be fully recharged in two hours at a wallbox.

Top speed in e-mode before the diesel engine kicks in has been raised from 130km/h to 140km/h.