Electric SLS AMG supercar coming soon

Moses7

526 hp from 4 motors. 60 mph in 4 sec. Should arrive in 2013. Wonder how much if the regular costs over 200k euros.

Pics of a yellow prototype here.

af_thefragile

I despise electric cars but i've got a feeling this one might just perform better than the petrol version. Its just a lot more sophisticated. Its 4 wheel drive, its got a better suspension, its got a better power delivery system to individual wheels, its gonna be amazing to drive.

Though it is going to be quite heavy and probably very expensive as well. Although might have some reliability issues as its pretty much the first of its kind. Hopefully it should have a decent range as well.

Lets see if this one can convert me into thinking leccy cars are the future!

Matt Simis

Range and I mean the real range, when gunning it, are whats going to murder this. Recent articles I read showed just how slowly battery performance has progressed in the last 100 years for these applications.

Id also be curious about weight distribution.

af_thefragile

^Does seem to have 3 battery packs. Though I'ld be surprised if it goes more than 100miles when trashed around a track.

Leccy car evangelists say once the cars are mass produced, the technology will be improved and should battery performance. Now there is some truth in this seeing for instance how computer technology has improved in leaps and bounds since they started being mass produced. So lets see if the same can happen with batteries.

Anan1

af_thefragile wrote: »

Though I'ld be surprised if it goes more than 100miles when trashed around a track.

Now that you mention it, I doubt a petrol one would either!

Matt Simis

af_thefragile wrote: »

^Does seem to have 3 battery packs. Though I'ld be surprised if it goes more than 100miles when trashed around a track.

Leccy car evangelists say once the cars are mass produced, the technology will be improved and should battery performance. Now there is some truth in this seeing for instance how computer technology has improved in leaps and bounds since they started being mass produced. So lets see if the same can happen with batteries.

100miles on track usage is very optimistic, Id say 15miles. 100Miles is the normal range for an EV, without any hard driving.
Computer Tech has increased in leaps and bounds, but Batteries and computers arent the same tech tree at all! They are kinda lumped together by the Press, but one is semiconductor and the other largely chemical reaction. Also Batteries are already mass produced and have been in production about 3times as long as computers.

Stolen from Octane.ie who stole it from a report in E&T:

With consumers indicating that they will resist switching to electric cars until their overall performance more closely matches conventional models, limits in battery technology are forcing manufacturers to restrict plans to cars with effectively the same range as electric vehicles made in 1910 – and no obvious solutions are on the horizon.

The article in the latest issue of E&T (issue 9, out 17 June, published by the Institution of Engineering and Technology) gives the example of a standard model Ford Focus or Volkswagen Golf being capable of travelling for over 600km – in mixed driving conditions – on one tank of fuel and easily maintaining 70mph. However, for an electric car to offer a similar level of performance, E&T experts calculated that the batteries alone would weigh 1.5 tons, would be larger than a complete conventional car and would cost approximately £100,000.

While progress on costs is expected in the next ten years, a battery-powered car will remain significantly more expensive and heavier than a conventional car and their realistic range is likely to remain at around 100 miles – with possibly half that range in winter.

Firstly, while the performance of electronics has increased by some 10,000% in the past 35 years, the performance of battery technology has only increased six-fold in the past century. A similar increase would be required for batteries to give EVs the level of performance demanded by current car owners, but in around ten years.

Secondly, manufacturers already know that to have any hope of getting a reasonable life from lithium-ion batteries they should not be run from full to empty but should be kept at between 20%-80% of their charge – yet car manufacturers’ range calculations are based on running a complete cycle from full battery to empty.

Thirdly, charging remains a major stumbling block. Recharging an EV battery on a domestic supply is likely to take around 13 hours. As laptop and mobile-phone owners have come to understand, the useful lifetime of a lithium-ion battery is only a few years – rapid charging and discharging cycles damage the battery and cut its useful capacity. Further complications arise with much lower EV charging times quoted for up-rated power supplies, as no one knows what the impact of such ‘rapid’ charging will be on the batteries. It could take up to ten years before car manufacturers know the true picture in a real life environment – leading to serious questions over whether they will be able to offer a full warranty on what is likely to continue to be by far the most expensive part of the car.

http://europeanmotornews.com/2010/06/16/electric-cars-unlikely-ever-to-offer-a-viable-alternative-to-conventional-models/

Moses7

SLS AMG E-Cell driven by David Coulthard

Pdfile

several have been crashed already... not gonna be around long i guess.

Sesshoumaru

I know this thread is a little old, but this is a relevant update! If you have about 20 minutes to spare, Chris Harris takes the new Mercedes SLS AMG E Drive around a track and then speaks to a Mercedes techie about the technology behind the power train and the torque vectoring. The torque vectoring has to be the most interesting feature of this car. I wonder how it might do on the TG track?

The numbers are significant: 750hp, 737lb ft, 2200kg. But can you actually enjoy driving it?

Sesshoumaru

More on the torque vectoring feature of the new SLS.

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2014-mercedes-benz-sls-amg-electric-drive-first-drive-review

The electric SLS’s primary party trick is a function of the four electric motors that power it. With each motor dedicated to driving a single wheel, the ED’s computers have precise control over the forces that make a car change direction. Accelerating and braking each motor independently of the others turns this 4700-pound brute into a ballerina. The level of torque vectoring—what AMG calls “torque dynamics”—can be set to one of three modes. In Comfort, the SLS electric drive can’t hide its 900-pound surplus over the gas model. The electric car is reluctant to change direction, and the steering is sluggish. With the body always a step behind the wheels, the SLS feels more like an S-class than a half-million-dollar sports car.


Switching to the most aggressive setting, Sport Plus, affects a transformation unlike that of any adaptive suspension or torque-vectoring differential we’ve ever experienced. Turn-in is defined by Lotus-like immediacy. The body moves perfectly in sync with the wheels and the driver’s intentions. The steering is prescient, and yet the four-corner torque control means you also influence your heading with the right pedal. If you underestimate a corner, simply squeeze on the throttle to tighten your line—not to induce oversteer but to increase the yaw moment. The outside wheels accelerate, the inside wheels slow, and the gullwing tucks in, darting for the inside. This four-wheel torque vectoring redefines the expression “steering with the throttle.” And although it’s unlike any car we’ve ever driven, this is the kind of electric car we can easily get behind.

Something to Look Forward To

The hyperexclusive, ultraexpensive SLS AMG electric drive is an anomaly in the world of battery-powered cars. It’s too radical to serve as basic transportation, and its range-limited battery keeps it from being a real track toy. Instead, its purpose is to serve as a development bench and proving ground for using smaller multiple motors rather than a single large motor. If the idea of dedicating a motor to an individual wheel becomes common practice, we’re looking forward to a future of hybrids and electrics.