The Mercedes SLS AMG Electric Drive was introduced
five years ago at the 2012 Paris Motor Show so it's surprising to learn that
the model was recently spotted undergoing testing on and around the
Nürburgring.
Decked out in an almost comical amount of equipment,
the mysterious model has us scratching our heads as we're not entirely sure
what's going on. One possibility is that Mercedes is working on an electric
version of the AMG GT and the company decided to use an old SLS AMG Electric
Drive as a mule.
That's far from official at this point but electric
vehicles are all the rage nowadays and it has fueled speculation that Mercedes
could be considering an electric AMG GT. The standard model is expected to
remain in production for several more years so the company has plenty of time
to release additional variants such as the AMG GT Black Series and potentially
even an EV.
Mercedes reportedly sold less than 100 SLS AMG
Electric Drives and that's not too surprising considering the model cost
€ 416,500 (US$ 483,854). However, the AMG GT is significantly cheaper than the SLS
AMG so it seems logical that an AMG GT Electric Drive would undercut its
predecessor.
It remains to be seen if Mercedes is seriously
considering an AMG GT Electric Drive but it would have some pretty big shoes to
fill as the SLS AMG Electric Drive had four electric motors which produced a
combined maximum output of 740 hp and 1,000 Nm of torque.
This enabled the car to rocket from 0-100 km/h in 3.9 seconds before
hitting a limited top speed of 250 km/h. However, the car's 60 kWh
battery only gave the model an NEDC combined range of 250 km.
