Mercedes' electrifying supercar

German prestige car company Mercedes-Benz has revealed that it is working on an electric version of its new SLS AMG Gullwing supercar.

Powered by four electric motors, one for each wheel, the electric supercar will be almost as fast as the 6.2-litre V8 version. Mercedes claims the four electric motors generate a combined total of 392kW of power and a gobsmacking 880Nm of torque.

Mercedes-Benz's performance arm, AMG, says that preliminary figures suggest the car is almost as fast as the V8-powered model, able to dispatch the zero to 100km/h dash in roughly 4.0secs.

The petrol-powered SLS AMG Gullwing has a claimed 3.8 second benchmark sprint time, so this heavier electric version compares well.

Volker Mornhinweg, the CEO of Mercedes-AMG GmbH, was upbeat about the performance levels of what could the first all-electric Mercedes production car.

"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," stated Mornhinweg.

Interestingly, the gullwing doors and other external aspects of the cars design did not require modifications to accommodate the four electric motors and extensive battery packs. The German car maker says that safety levels have also been retained.

Electric Internals
Making use of four electric motors, which are positioned just inward of the wheels, the zero emission SLS AMG Gullwing sports car has two transmissions -- one at each axle.

Combined, the powertrain makes use of an intelligent all-wheel-drive system that Mercedes says will allow "dynamically optimised power transmission without any losses by means of Torque Vectoring". In layman's terms the system can channel torque instantly to any of the four individual wheels which has the potential to deliver AWD traction like never before.

According to Mercedes, the SLS AMG's initial pilot phase will use a liquid-cooled high-voltage lithium-ion battery that has an energy content of 48kWh and a capacity of 40Ah.

It's not clear whether this vehicle will be a plug-in electric vehicle, as the company states the 400-volt battery is charged by "means of targeted recuperation during braking whilst the car is being driven". Regenerative braking might be a little difficult the batteries are flat and the car is stationary.

Either way, it's still early days for this research project but it is likely that much of Mercedes-Benz upcoming electric vehicle technology will be derived from this high performance concept.

See below for the petrol-powered SLS AMG Gullwing cruising around the famous Nurburgring in Germany

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