Do you remember when the words "hybrid" or "electric-powered" were roughly the car-world equivalent to a girl telling you that her friend had a "great personality"?
In a world that is finally embracing a need to break from oil dependence, the latest trend has unquestionably been the race by carmakers to produce high-end, high-performance "green" sports cars. It's a revolution being felt everywhere, from the pinnacle of motorsport to the floors of the most prestigious auto shows.
From EVO:
Mercedes-Benz has announced that it’s planning to launch the SLS AMG Electric Drive next year, after the car’s show debut at the Paris motor show. With 730bhp and 737lb ft, Mercedes claims the electric SLS is the most powerful production car it has ever offered.The site also provided a quick video look at this new environmentally-conscious beast:
Driven by four individual electric motors, two gearboxes and a new AMG Torque Dynamics system, the SLS Electric is four-wheel-drive, and is said to do 0-62mph in 3.9secs onto a limited 155mph.
Power comes from a liquid-cooled 60kWh, 548kg lithium-ion battery. It will take 20 hours to fully charge from a standard wall socket, or just three if you opt for the fast-charge wall box.
The SLS has long been one of my personal favorites, so news that an electric-powered version is on the way is intriguing. But, I can't say I'm all that thrilled to hear this tidbit about the sound that it will make. The current SLS snarls like a nightmarish brute when idling, and roars like it's trying to rip open the road at every pump of the throttle. To learn that this has been sacrificed in the pursuit of technology is disheartening (though understandable, given the limited sound that electric engines produce).
My boy Armo with the assist.
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