Click for more photosMercedes-Benz SLS E-Cell
Mercedes-Benz have announced a limited run of the zero emission SLS (Gullwing) E-Cell electric vehicle as a green flagship from 2013.
Australia could be on the shortlist for the ‘Gullwing’ EV.
The world’s first fully electric supercar – the Mercedes-Benz Gullwing E-Cell – has been confirmed to go on sale by the end of this year and be in customer hands by early 2013.
Mercedes is yet to announce the price but it’s tipped to be close to $1 million because of the complex build process and the high cost of the battery pack and performance electric motor.
“It will be on the pricelist for an exclusive clientele this year and deliveries will start in 2013,” the head of AMG, Ola Kaellenius told Australian media in Geneva overnight.
Advertisement: Story continues below
“We don’t know [how many we will sell]. We’re breaking new ground, we’re working on the philosophy ‘build it and they will come’. We are entering the segment with an open mind.”
Australia is yet to be confirmed as a market for the vehicle even though more AMG cars are sold per-capita locally than in North America. Mercedes sold 44 Gullwings in Australia in 2010 and 30 last year even though they cost in excess of $400,000.
“We are already in discussions with the markets. We are deciding in the next few months if we build it in right-hand drive,” Kaellenius says. “We know Australia is an important market for AMG. It is technically possible to build the vehicle in right-hand-drive. But we have to decide if there is a business case behind it.”
Despite the high price of the emerging technology, Mercedes says it is already holding orders for the E-Cell and expects to sell “triple digit figures”.
So far, more than 6000 V8-powered Gullwing SLS coupes have been sold worldwide; the car maker estimates it could sell at least a few hundred of the pure electric model.
Mercedes has already tested the E-Cell on the Nurburgring but is yet to release a lap time. However, Drive has been told it is only marginally slower than the V8.
The E-Cell sprints from 0 to 100km/h in 4.0 seconds (compared to 3.8 seconds for the V8) and has 200km of driving range in ideal conditions between recharges.
The demonstration E-Cell has 392kW of power and 880Nm of torque (compared to 420kW and 650Nm for the V8) but the AMG boss indicated there may be more power to come for the production car.
The E-Cell’s battery pack adds about 500kg to the overall weight of the vehicle – pushing it beyond two tonnes – but because it is mounted in the “spine” of the vehicle, it has a lower centre of gravity than the V8 model, AMG claims.
The E-Cell is effectively a test bed for possible hybrid versions of future AMG models.
“Electrification will enter the performance segment at some point in time. We decided we’d use the E-Cell project to build up the technical knowledge inside the company and then you can combine it in any form you like,” Kaellenius says
