Officially, Official: Mercedes to produce electric SLS gullwing
 

Filed under: Coupes, Sports/GTs, Green, Tech, Supercars, Mercedes-Benz, AMG

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Mercedes-Benz has officially confirmed the rumors that have been floating around in recent days - it will build an electrically powered version of its upcoming SLS gullwing coupe! The EV version of the SLS will drive all four wheels by means of an individual motor for each corner. It will not however use wheel hub motors, since those add too much unsprung mass. The motors will be mounted just inboard of the suspension components.

Energy will be stored in a 48 kWh liquid cooled lithium ion battery pack running down the central tunnel. The combined output of the electric drive system is 392 kW (526 hp) and 880 Nm (649 lb-ft), which compares to 420 kW (563 hp) and 649 Nm (479 lb-ft) for the 6.3-liter V8 in the conventional SLS. Mercedes claims it will accelerate to 62 mph in four seconds. No range is being quoted at this time, but given that the battery capacity is lower than the Tesla Roadster and the car is larger, it will likely be well under 200 miles. No timeline for the electric version is being quoted, although earlier rumors placed it at 2015.

One of the reasons that Daimler said it was investing $50 million in Tesla Motors was the upstart's ability to move quickly and develop systems faster than could be done at Daimler. Given that, we may well see the electric SLS sooner rather than later. Check out our high-res gallery of (internal combustion) Mercedes SLS prototypes below and the official press release after the jump.


Gallery: Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG

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[Source: Daimler]Continue reading Officially, Official: Mercedes to produce electric SLS gullwing

Officially, Official: Mercedes to produce electric SLS gullwing originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 16 Jul 2009 10:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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Autoblog
07-16-2009 11:57 AM

ok now I want one

NNNNNNOOOOOO!!!!!!

That just seems WRONG. Am I just a curmudgen or what?

whats wrong with an electric super car? Electric is the going to replace internal combustion anyways.. a 100-200 mile range is perfect.

You wouldn't understand, Joe. You're not a curmudgeon . . . .yet.

no, I'm not but when I am electric cars will be the norm.

The range isn't that bad of an issue. Gas guzzling MBs have ranges similar to that number. The difference comes when you realize for a gas car, you can get down to empty, spend less than 5 mins refilling and get back on the highway. But with the electric car, it's going to take more than 5 mins to get those batteries up to a full charge.

I'm sure you're right, Joe. I will resist it just like I resisted going to digital photography . . . with about the same results, I'm sure.:rolleyes: