The 740HP Mercedes-Benz SLS Electric Drive.

October 10, 2012, By Alexander Eckhart

The SLS Electric Drive was a major attraction at the Paris Motor Show. The main feature of this car is that under that long blue-ish hood, you won’t find the same petrol engine as its conventionally-powered sibling has. Advertised as being the most powerful production EV in the world, the SLS E.D. is driven by four synchronous electric motors, thus making it a four-wheel drive car. Each electric motor weighs in at 45 kg and combined, they output a staggering 740 hp – 551 kW and an impressive 999 Nm of torque.

Furthermore, the SLS Electric Drive features two independent gearboxes that provide direct drive to each axle. While the AMG Torque Dynamics system provides selective drive to individual wheels you can select the best driving mode from three available: comfort, sport and sport plus.
The The electric supercar sprints from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.9 seconds and it can hit an electronically-limited maximum speed of 249 km/h thus being more powerful than the regular SLS AMG.

The four electric engines get their power from the 548 kg, 60 kWh lithium-ion, liquid-cooled battery pack that has been installed within the transmission tunnel and behind the front seats. Since the battery is so heavy, the German engineers used an aluminum and carbon fiber arrangement, instead of the regular model’s aluminum structure. The brakes have also been replaced with lighter carbon-ceramic brake discs that measure 402mm in the front and 360mm in the back. Moreover, the SLS AMG’s double wishbone front suspension has been replaced with a pushrod configuration that features horizontally-mounted dampers and springs.

The overall exterior design of the vehicle hasn’t been modified too much. Except for the brigt-blue AMG electricbeam magno paint and the reviewed front grille, the SLS Electric Drive looks basically the same as the normal AMG version. The vehicle rides on exclusive 19-inch alloy wheels that feature 265/35 tires at the front axle and 20-inch wheels with 295/30 tires at the back.

The SLS Electric Drive will be available starting from next year, with a pice tag of 416,500 euros (including VAT).

For those interested in seeing the SLS perform, Mercedes has recently released a video of the blue vehicle that quietly races through the Ascari race track in Malaga, Spain. Enjoy!