With electric cars, hybrids and hydrogen fuel cells stated to be the drive mechanisms of the future, Mercedes came out with their own version of one of these ‘whirring’ technologies. Yes, whirring because, it’s an electric car powered by four whirring electric motors and producing an equivalent of 525BHP. The first electric hypercar? Quite possible be.
Mercedes Benz has been working on an electric version of the SLS AMG supercar as per their own confirmations and then several leaked images on the web. Now they’ve officially confirmed the prototype and even showed the world a small briefing of the car in a video showing former Formula One Driver David Coulthard testing the acceleration of the car, along with some official images.
The car features four electric motors for each of the four wheels located at the back of the vehicle revving upto 12000 rpm and producing a total of 525 horses coupled with 649 lb-ft of torque. The 0-62mph run is tagged at 4 seconds, a slightly 0.2 seconds slower than the gasoline SLS. The battery pack consists of 324 Li-ion polymer cells to stack up powers capable of taking loads upto 480 KW.
To take on the added weight of the car’s all wheel drive system, Merc had to revise suspension at the front by replacing the double wishbone setup with a more sturdy multi-link setup with pushrod damper struts. Also to lower the overall weight, this behemoth sees the adoption of composite disc brakes in place of the gas powered car’s cast iron discs.
On the exterior front, there’s a new front splitter that moves a bit lower for more downforce at speeds over 75mph, while the lack of exhaust system has been exploited for the employment of a steeper diffuser for more downforce. The car features slightly wider grille with vents on the hood for cooling. Efficiency stimulators are the light 10 spoke AMG alloys with smooth surface technology and high efficiency LED headlamps. The other styling bits on the car remain unchanged save for a large touchscreen device on the centre console in the interior and other minor touch ups.
The car is still under testing and improvement programmes as the battery pack’s range et al are still unconfirmed. Yet, DC claims to have had an exhilarating drive with stunning acceleration but is doubtful about the top speeds given a single gear drivetrain. Merc should be interested in one of their G-Tronics after this statement! Production shall begin in 2013, so expect some heavy developments till then!
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electric motors would sometimes overheat if they are not properly ventilated,-.