More often than not, Mercedes Benz competed unoffcially with the likes of Audi, BMW and Jaguar even to create the most powerful engine for their lineups. Remember the D-segment sedan power fight which involved the E-Class, 5 Series and the A6? Power was everything and this happened mainly because they didn't want to lose, like Jeremy Clarkson.
Mercedes has now joined the EV competition and claims that their new SLS AMG Electric Drive is the most powerful EV car there is in this world. A bold claim it may be but seeing the SLS Electric Drive having 740 bhp and a monstrous 1,000 Nm of torque, that literally dwarfs the petrol SLS with 591 bhp and 650 Nm of torque. 0 to 100 km/h is done in 3.9 seconds and on to an electronically limited top speed of 250 km/h.
All 740 bhp and 1,000 Nm of torque comes from four synchronous electric motors that drive all four wheels technically making it four-wheel-drive. Instead of being in the wheel hubs, they're placed on the axles which Mercedes claims reduces unsprung mass. Two gearboxes work independently with two motors each and there is an AMG Torque Dynamics system which provides selective drive to individual wheels to increase grip in different conditions. It comes in three modes as well: Comfort, Sport and Sport Plus.
The motors get their energy juice from a 60 kWh liquid-cooled lithium-ion battery that gives a range of 250 km and 400 volts at its peak performance. That's a lot of juice to be honest but this advantage comes at a cost, the battery itself weighs about 548 kg though all of it are installed within the transmission tunnel behind the front seats where the petrol tank was in the standard SLS. To shave off excessive fats in this car, a mesh of carbon fibre and aluminium structure replaces the all-aluminium build of the regular SLS and those carbon-ceramic brake discs reduces the weight a slight bit more.
The double wishbone suspension system sees it replaced with independent multi-link ones with pushrod dampers while the wheels are 19-inch in the front and 20-inch at the back. And like all EVs, this electric SLS is quiet as it can be so Mercedes developed a sound generated through 11 speakers. It may have the term concept but the SLS Electric Drive will see sales starting next year for a cool €416,500 (RM 1.6 million) and you can have it in blue chrome.
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