Mercedes-AMG was one of the first with a high-performance electric car when it introduced the SLS AMG Electric Drive[1] at the 2012 Paris auto show.
Although it wasn't a volume model, it was a clear demonstration of the Affalterbach tuner's proficiency in electric car development. Even now, the SLS AMG Electric Drive remains the fastest production electric car around the Nürburgring, having clocked in a 7:56.234 lap in 2013[2].
With parent company Mercedes-Benz working on a new generation of electric cars, the first of which was previewed by the Generation EQ concept[3] at the recent 2016 Paris auto show, Drive[4] asked AMG boss Tobias Moers whether some of these will get the AMG treatment.
Moers explained that it would be "stupid" to rule out launching electric cars but said it was too early to say what form his company's next battery-powered model will take. He said AMG will start evaluating Mercedes' new modular electric car platform at the end of the year and go from there.
"There will be an AMG pure electric car but I don't know when," Moers told the Australian publication. "Because otherwise AMG will disappear as a brand."
This is in stark contrast to what Ferrari [NYSE:RACE] Chairman and CEO Sergio Marchionne said at the 2016 Geneva auto show. He said an electric Ferrari is "almost an obscene concept[5]," since engine noise is so vital to the Ferrari experience.
Ferrari seems to be alone in that thinking, though, as rivals Aston Martin, McLaren, Porsche, and AMG it seems, are all committed to launching electric cars.
While it might be several years until AMG launches another electric car, we will see the company's first hybrid in the near future. The first hybrid will be a world-beating hypercar[7] powered by what is shaping up to be a detuned version of the power unit in the Mercedes AMG Formula One team's championship-winning car from the 2015 season.
And more AMG hybrids are coming. Moers told Drive that the hypercar hints at the technology path for AMG's future, and that the company was working on at least one other hybrid.
References
- ^ 2014 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Electric Drive debuts in Paris (www.motorauthority.com)
- ^ Electric SLS AMG sets Nürburgring record for a production EV (www.motorauthority.com)
- ^ Mercedes previews first of 'EQ' electric cars with SUV concept (www.motorauthority.com)
- ^ Mercedes-AMG outlines hybrid plans (www.drive.com.au)
- ^ Marchionne: Electric Ferrari would be 'obscene' (www.motorauthority.com)
- ^ Enlarge Photo (www.motorauthority.com)
- ^ Mercedes-AMG teases hypercar (www.motorauthority.com)
