Mercedes-Benz is keen to join the electric sports car market with their new E-Cell prototype. Just like how Audi transformed their R8 into an E-Tron prototype, and Porsche’s ‘already-in-production’ hybrid Spyder 918, the AMG team has thrown in some massive electric power plant into their gull-wing supercar, that is comparable with its fuel-guzzling petrol version of 6.2-liter 563hp V8 engine.
With four electric motors at each axle coupled with reduction gears, the Lumilectric Mango (yellow color to be exact) SLS AMG E-Cell prototype is able to scream to a scary 12k rpm range. The E-Cell will have 526 horses on their wheels ready to be dispersed, along with 649Nm of torque to burn the rubber and twist the road. The 60-miles rally is short under 4 seconds, making it nearly identical in every aspect of its V8-version sibling, albeit with less noise and green to Mother Nature. Though there’s one thing to note, is that despite not being a smoke puffer, the E-Cell has gained quite some weight due to the four motors, necessitated the replacement of the double-wishbone suspension with a multi-link setup with push-rod dampers. But surely the drive experience would be somewhat identical.
New cooling was needed for the electrifying experience. Two separate cooling circuits are used to manage the temperature of the battery packs and related power electronics by either heating or cooling the units as needed. The lithium polymer batteries are split between the center tunnel and a box mounted behind the cockpit to have a properly distributed bodyweight ratio.
An extendable front splitter works with the reshaped rear diffuser to increase available downforce beyond what’s possible with the standard 6.2-liter-V8-powered gull-wing. Inside, the electric SLS gets a 10-inch touchscreen “infotainment” display in the center console. The E-Cell is also getting new shoes, with massive 19-inch front and 20-inch rear ten-spoke rims, coupled with 265/35 and 295/30 rubber, respectively. Well this baby is ready for you in 2013 if your pocket’s deep enough, as Mercedes-Benz stated that the prototype is already ready-to-run. Hopefully the mileage for the E-Cell would be better than Porsche’s 42km journey.
0 comments:
Post a Comment