Well-heeled Mercedes Gullwing carnoscenti eagerly await the Mercedes AMG SLS, the 571 HP 6.3-liter-V8 powered, 315 km/h fast reminder that there was a 300SL in the rip-roaring 50s. But what about saving the planet? Not to worry!
Der Spiegel found out that there will be an ecologically responsible version of the Benz beast: A plug-in gullwing. Not one motor will power the green meanie—it will be four motors, one for every wheel. They will be good for only slightly fewer horses than the hydrocarbonated version: 530 hp for the battery-Benz. But the torque!
With 880 Nm, the eco-extremist’s wet dream will accelerate in less than four seconds from stationary to 100 km/h. Top speed is reached at 200 km/h, and the 324-cell lithium ion battery will scream “charge it!” after 150 to 180 km. “That’s not far,” says Der Spiegel, “but if you move the gasoline version in a species-appropriate manner, your tank won’t last much further either.”
What are the odds that the first granola gullwings will go to Abu Dhabi? Or will they take the conventional one?
species-appropriate manner
That’s nice.
An ecologically responsible car is impossible because there’s nothing ecologically responsible about ripping apart the countryside to lay out hundreds of thousands of square miles of asphalt.
Whatever makes people feel good I guess…
“there’s nothing ecologically responsible about ripping apart the countryside to lay out hundreds of thousands of square miles of asphalt.”
Better we should tear up the unaltered countryside with our Jeeps and Hummers, I suppose.
This kind of thinking sounds to me like a wish that the pristine planet Earth were not contaminated with human beings. You might as well say that there’s nothing ecologically responsible about being a living human being.
pariah:
It’s more ecologically responsible to to cover the countryside with asphalt, which degrades quicker than than concrete!
Or is your point that we don’t need any roads? I suppose you don’t ever use them? Give us a break!
Why only 200 km/h?
Gearing?, Weight?, Charge/Autonomy?
It won’t be funny for the customers that their € 7478347843873298238923984 “green machine” (ROFL) gets totally OWNED by a pedestrian VW Golf.
In fact, if you’re rich, you should have the “privilege” of polluting… which is why you can afford a 500+HP car.
If you are like the rest of us, you may have to conform purchasing a politically correct Prius-like refrigerator *sigh* *rolleyes*. Yeah it will suck big time to be “poor”.
fincar1 and grimm, all I’m saying is that there is nothing green about the mass production of roads and vehicles, and anyone who buys a car thinking that it’s “healthy” for the environment is a tool. Just stating the obvious really. The whole focus of the “green car” movement is centered on emissions and MPG alone, while the other 9/10th’s of the transportation system’s pollution is left out of the picture. Why lie to ourselves and pretend that there’s anything green about it? I never said we should have no cars and no roads and that all humans should die, I’m just calling it how I see it.
“You might as well say that there’s nothing ecologically responsible about being a living human being.”
I wouldn’t go that far, but I think one could easily argue that there’s nothing ecologically responsible about industrialization and mass consumerism/waste.
Uhh, back to the car…
The specs sound like a Tesla that you can’t park in a normal garage due to the gullwings. No thanks.
People don’t want ‘green’ M-Bs. Style and/or speed, but not ‘green’. When will the high-end manufacturers figure this out?
Greenwashing aside, it makes sense to introduce/advance new technologies in high-end cars first. The (likely) astronomical price for this SLS may allow MB to see a profit and reinvest that in further R&D (unlike a subsidized Volt). Eventually, the technology will become cheaper to produce and trickle down to middle-class cars, much like what happened with ABS, xenon headlights, etc.
Still, it will take some hardcore early adopters to spend X-hundred K for one of these.
Electric driven cars make sense in Ferrari’s and cars like that. They are cars you buy not because they are particular useful but because they are the pinnacle of technology and drive fast. Both conditions are met in the gullwing
With MB”s reputation for electrical system reliability, this is going to be one fine automobile.
This is high voltage stuff aka could potentially kill you. Totally different engineering. MB’s should be able to handle this