The race to build the world’s first production electric supercar is over. And Audi blinked.
It’s not that Ingolstadt’s on again/off again R8 e-tron wasn’t a deliciously indulgent glimpse into what one-percenters will add to their rolling war chest. In fact, there’s still a glimmer of hope the four-ringed brand might actually develop and sell the electrified R8 in limited numbers. But it wasn’t long after Audi teased journalists with parking-lot-speed test drives on closed roads that the sleek EV disappeared from the product planning lineup.
Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz pressed full steam ahead with their 740-horsepower, battery-powered SLS – astronomic development costs be damned. The line between vaporware and honest-to-goodness technology can indeed be crossed with persistence and piles of euros, even if those future-friendly technologies are hidden beneath the current SLS’s achingly attractive – if aging – silhouette.
The decision was a ballsy enough move to embolden AMG Chairman Ola Kaellenius to snark about pioneering true Vorsprung durch Technic – Audi’s trademarked German phrase that translates to “Advancement Through Innovation” – marking yet another great moment in public German automaker power plays.
Co-opting catchphrases can be a dangerous way to hawk a half-million-dollar all-electric supercar, but frankly, that was the last thing running through my mind as I slid awkwardly into a pre-production SLS Electric Drive finished in a shocking blue metallic wrap, nearly bonking my head against the roof in the process.
While it’s visually indistinguishable from its fuel-burning counterpart, virtually everything beneath this two-seater’s skin is bespoke and bleeding edge. From the so-called “zero-intrusion” carbon fiber and aluminum housing that protects the liquid-cooled lithium-ion battery pack to the Porsche-developed stability control software that orchestrates the inboard-mounted motors which drive and brake all four wheels. Oh, and there’s also an F1-like pushrod suspension up front, which reduces unsprung mass to more deftly tackle handling duties.
Inside the cockpit, few clues beyond EV-specific instrumentation betray the electrically driven aspects of the SLS’s powertrain, which consists of four 99-pound synchronous motors, spinning at up to 13,000 rpm. Each draws power from a single, 1,208-pound, 60 kWh lithium-ion battery with a load potential of 600 kW and a maximum of 400 volts. The battery can be recharged in around three hours using a high-capacity 22 kW quick charger and this SLS is good for an estimated cruising range of 155 miles on the European cycle. Needless to say, your eMileage may vary.
These massive exchanges of electricity require wrist-thick cabling under the SLS’s mile-long hood, but they also make driving an ostentatious supercar eerily silent. So to give the people what they want, there’s a menu in the Comand system dubbed “eSound” that emits a fabricated soundtrack worthy of Brian Eno through the car’s 11 speakers. It’s a sort of an atmospheric augmentation that layers over the inherent whines and whirs created by the electric drivetrain.
Clicking the shifter into “D” and easing into the long pedal effortlessly thrusts the SLS forward in smooth, easy silence. We were warned that “Comfort” mode feels like a floaty Mercedes S-Class sedan, and the description proves to be accurate. The lazy throttle response and mellow, understeer-prone handling makes the road your virtual country club. Since seat time is limited, switching over to S+ mode suddenly seems a necessity, and the SLS’s personality instantly becomes twitchier.
But here’s the kicker.
Turn the dial to the seemingly innocuous “S” mode, and the SLS becomes something it has never been before: an imperviously flat, apex slicing track tool with a physics-defying ability to negotiate corners.
Each of the four electric motors know exactly how much torque to apportion or absorb from each wheel, effectively creating a perfect power storm of forward and lateral propulsion. Thanks primarily to the aforementioned stability control software, each of the four electric motors know exactly how much torque to apportion or absorb from each wheel, effectively creating a perfect power storm of forward and lateral propulsion that helps whisk the car ahead as though it’s suction cupped to tarmac. AMG’s term for this strangely neutral, magic carpet-like ride is Torque Dynamics, and high-speed footage of a cornering electric SLS reveals a window into the inertia-beating trickery at work behind the scenes: look closely, and you can see the rear outside wheel spinning slightly faster than the front, which essentially overdrives that tire in order to help rotate the car. Meanwhile, inside wheels are slowing down and aiding the process, as they absorb kinetic energy that’s routed back to the battery pack. It doesn’t hurt that up to 738 pound-feet of torque is available from the motors – considerably more than standard SLS – and that maximum twist is produced at exactly zero rpm, making its ascension through the 13,000 rpm rev range a long-winded, single-speed adventure in giggle-inducing thrust.
The cornering effect is enhanced by the fact that this electricity driven gullwing has a center of gravity that’s nearly a half-inch lower than its gas burning version. Along with its head-slamming ability to squirt to 62 mph in 3.9 seconds – only three-tenths of a second slower than the standard SLS – it’s stunning stopping capabilities are even more impressive. And these athletic skill sets make the specially composed humming sounds seem all the more bizarre. Guess it’s better than the alternative: a metallic medley of high-pitched motor whine and tire noise. But at least the ultimate aural choice is up to the driver.
Mercedes-Benz says they’ll build as many electric gullwings as the market demands, though it takes 100 days from the time of the order for the bare chassis to be assembled in Gratz, Austria before it’s merged with the bespoke drivetrain components in Affalterbach and made ready for public consumption.
Disregarding the potentially convoluted construction logistics, not to mention the admittedly limited target audience and dizzying estimated cost of €416,500 (around $540,000 at today’s exchange rate), it’s no wonder there are no official plans to import this all electric supercar to the United States. That leaves the market for alt-fuel supercars open to the likes of higher priced hybrids like the Porsche 918 Spyder ($845,000), and the seven-figure LaFerrari and McLaren P1.
Perhaps the kicker to end all kickers in this arms-race-cum-game-of-technological-chicken is the response of Thomas Rappel, Product Management and Strategy head, when asked how many SLS AMG Electric Drives he expects will sell.
“We hope many,” he said with a faint German accent.
His uncertainty belies the fact that this mad creation will officially transcend vaporware status by rolling into the garages of well-heeled early adopters this summer, illustrating the delightful paradigm that automotive pissing matches yield the some seriously innovative results.
All photos courtesy of Mercedes-Benz AMG
