back to article Mercedes' performance team confirm e-car plan

The speed freaks at Mercedes-Benz's tuning subsidiary and skunkworks, AMG, are preparing an electric version of the forthcoming SLS AMG gullwing über-coupé. And here's a schematic of the beast's "SLS eDrive" power train: AMD SLS eDrive Inside AMG's SLS eDrive Click for larger version AMG boss Volker Mornhinweg recently …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    Why why why?

    They say it has 392kW and does only 120mph? This shows that it can only sustain ~60-80kW presumably to prevent is melting into a pool of copper & mimicking a toxic bonfire (where by mimicking I mean becoming). One must assume that the 649lb-ft is at a useless rev range too (perhaps motors stalled) or else it would piss the 0-60 of the petrol... or perhaps the petrol version has a "gearbox" which means it can stay around peak torque all the way & more torque at the wheels as slower speeds?

    So pick some bigger numbers... which magically turn into a car that is slower... with not enough range to get from Oxford to Heathrow & back on 1 charge...

    Meanwhile back in the real world real engineering challenges such as powering China without brown coal & supplying clean drinking water to 1bn Africans go ignored. But at least the Africans and Chinese will be able to drive in 'lectric Mercs.

  2. Pete James

    M-B: The Car of Choice for Drug Dealers

    And this will perfect for them.

    Fast, super-quiet so they can zoom round without plod hearing them and enough range to get round their patch.

    You can of course also add very questionable styling underneath the disguise - just the thing to get them excited and selling more 'product' to their 'customers'.

    Avon Barksdale wannabe's form an orderly queue behind the sign please. No weapons in the showroom, thanks.

  3. stizzleswick
    FAIL

    Right solution. Wrong problem.

    While holding this effort and, more particularly, Tesla's, in high regard as technological masterpieces, I still have my doubts about electrical sports/luxury cars. 'leccy cars make more sense in an inner city and shopping scenario, where distances are relatively short and noxious emissions extremely high in the case of petrol-driven cars.

    For the performance bracket, I suggest there are much more suitable fuels which can be had at a low environmental impact, such as hydrogen (yes, I know... currently highly polluting production methods, but the methods to fix that already exist; they're just not being implemented yet. Where is the Green Party when it can do something useful for a change?), methane or similar. As can be seen from the steeply rising number of cars actually running on natural gas (please, spare me the comments), internal combustion with alternative fuels to petrol or diesel oil is a viable option.

    I don't think battery-powered cars can quite make the distance (pun intended) yet in any but an urban setting. In the long run (ditto), I'm betting on chemistry over electricity for the next three decades at least.

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