{"id":53969,"date":"2012-09-28T10:52:34","date_gmt":"2012-09-28T14:52:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedetroitbureau.com\/?p=53969"},"modified":"2012-09-28T10:52:34","modified_gmt":"2012-09-28T14:52:34","slug":"mercedes-plugs-in-with-sls-amg-electric-drive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/2012\/09\/mercedes-plugs-in-with-sls-amg-electric-drive\/","title":{"rendered":"Mercedes Plugs in with SLS AMG Electric Drive"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
The SLS Electric Drive will feature the same gullwing doors as the conventionally powered SLS Coupe.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For those who think that going green requires significant sacrifices \u2013 starting with that concept known as \u201cfun-to-drive,\u201d a stop at the Mercedes-Benz booth at the Paris Motor Show is clearly in order.<\/p>\n

While the German maker isn\u2019t the first to argue that battery cars can deliver reasonably good performance, it\u2019s set to provide the new benchmark with the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG E-Cell.\u00a0 In fact, you\u2019ll already be close to extra-legal speed in the time it would take to read that last sentence.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Power Up!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This red-hot green machine, painted a high-gloss blue for its debut, can volt \u2013 make that bolt \u2013 from 0 to 100 kmh (62.5 mph) in just 3.9 seconds, on the way to a top speed of 250 kmh (155 mph).\u00a0 While that\u2019s about 0.3 seconds slower than the conventional SLS Coupe the Mercedes battery supercar nonetheless now lays claims to being the world\u2019s fastest production electric vehicle.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The new Mercedes SLS Electric Drive on display at the 2012 Paris Motor Show.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In part, that\u2019s from the addition of a Formula One-style KERS electric turbocharging system. It recaptures energy normally lost during braking and coasting in a mechanical flywheel that can then pump that power back out to the wheels virtually instantaneously.<\/p>\n

The Mercedes SLS AMG Electric Drive actually tops the gas-powered 2-seater in several categories.\u00a0 The conventional model \u201conly\u201d makes 583 horsepower.\u00a0 The four electric motors in the ED \u2013 one for each wheel \u2013 put out a jaw-dropping 740 hp and 737 lb-ft of torque.<\/p>\n

The quad power arrangement has a number of advantages, notably the ability to shift power from one wheel to another, effectively creating a dynamic all-wheel-drive system.\u00a0 Each wheel can be braked separately, as well. Mercedes calls the technology AMG Torque Dynamics.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The Electric Drive gets a unique grille.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The extra horsepower is needed, nonetheless, to account for the hefty mass of batteries hidden under that long body, a 1,208-lb lithium-ion pack that can deliver range of an estimated 155 miles. Obviously, the more aggressive driving the shorter the range. There are twelve separate battery modules that are each liquid cooled, a necessity under high-demand driving.<\/p>\n

The SLS Electric Drive can be recharged in as little as three hours using Mercedes\u2019 high-voltage wall system. If you\u2019re going to plug into a standard wall outlet, however, expect to wait almost a full day \u2013 22 hours to be precise \u2013 before heading back out onto the street.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The SLS Electric Drive can get up to 155 miles on its 1,208-pound battery pack.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There are some minor visual modifications, such as a grille that looks more like that on the recent Mercedes A-Class concept than the current SLS.\u00a0 Originally dubbed the E-Cell Concept, the production car is more radically redesigned under the skin in the transition from V-8 to battery power. \u00a0A special carbon fiber monocoque stretches lengthwise, almost like a spine within the aluminum spaceframe. It not only protects the battery but keeps it low-mounted \u2013 to improve the SLS Electric Drive\u2019s center of gravity \u2013 and well out of harm\u2019s way from all but the most violent collisions.<\/p>\n

Battery car proponents like to take about the savings on fuel costs. Considering the amount of gas that the conventional SLS Coupe can suck down when your foot is pasted to the floor, the savings can add up quickly.\u00a0 But you\u2019ll still need a big bank account to put the new Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Electric Drive in your garage. The maker is quoting a German price tag of 416,500 Euros. If that holds when the ED comes to the States, that would work out to about $536,000.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The new Mercedes-Benz SLS Electric Coupe will hit 60 before you can finish this sentence — making it the world’s fastest electric vehicle. You’ll save plenty on fuel – but you’ll need it considering the more than $500,000 price tag. TheDetroitBureau.com plugs in for a closer look.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":53970,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"make":[],"post-state":[],"category_old":[151],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53969"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53969"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53969\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53969"},{"taxonomy":"make","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/make?post=53969"},{"taxonomy":"post-state","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post-state?post=53969"},{"taxonomy":"category_old","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category_old?post=53969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}