Mercedes-AMG confirms standalone 'Performance SUV'
Watch out, BMW XM - AMG's ground-up, all-electric super SUV is coming for you
Carmakers have been making big cars go silly fast for yonks. Land Rover has been shoving brawny V8s into the Range Rover since 1970, while the Porsche Cayenne Turbo arguably made the concept of a performance SUV cool in Europe. Everybody’s at it nowadays, to the point where Ferrari and (to a lesser extent) BMW have created standalone, mega-power mammoths for anyone after a supercar experience on stilts. Now, Mercedes-AMG has announced that it is entering the market with a new ‘High-Performance SUV’ officially in the works.
Details of the project are thin on the ground and the only picture we’ve got to go off is the red silhouette you see here. If that’s anything to go by, the as-yet-unnamed model will have a low, sloping roofline with high-rear haunches and, er, that’s about it. What we do know, however, is that it’ll be built from the ground up as a performance car, and underpinned by the company’s new AMG.EA platform. This will be the second version of it after the impending electric four-door GT, and will therefore be offered exclusively as an EV. No word on performance or range just yet, but expect a decent step over the current 677hp EQE SUV 53 Dynamic Plus range-topper.
Of course, AMG knows how to cobble a quick SUV together. It started with the ML55 back in 2000 and has gone on to chuck big V8s (and the odd V12) into most high-riding Mercs ever since. The new vehicle, however, will be Affalterbach’s first ground-up performance SUV and only the sixth vehicle it has led development on, joining the new SL, both generations of GT, SLS and the upcoming four-door EV.
Mercedes chairman, Michael Schiebe , said: “SUVs have been among our most popular models for many years. With the ‘Born in Affalterbach’ SUV, we are responding to this trend by offering our customers a truly captivating high-performance off-roader based on the AMG.EA platform. Our new high-performance architecture follows a clear philosophy: ‘AMG First, EV Second’. This means that the vehicles not only excel as electric vehicles but also embody the core AMG qualities of emotion and performance.” So, will it swim like a Purosangue, or sink like an XM? Either way, Mercedes is going to find out soon enough.
Because nothing says 'I’m environmentally conscious' like a 0-60 time that rivals a fighter jet... while hauling a bag of groceries. It’s the pinnacle of automotive evolution: a towering, 2.5-ton electric SUV that can give a Porsche 911 a run for its money on the school run. Just what we all need!
Because nothing says 'I’m environmentally conscious' like a 0-60 time that rivals a fighter jet... while hauling a bag of groceries. It’s the pinnacle of automotive evolution: a towering, 2.5-ton electric SUV that can give a Porsche 911 a run for its money on the school run. Just what we all need!
EV energy efficiency : Even a 900bhp, 2.5ton Lotus Eletre SUV is more energy efficient than the absolute best MPG petrol & diesel cars.
It'll be lucky to weigh only 2.5 tonnes, not sure another £150-200k EV SUV is what the market is screaming for right now, it'll be kept honest by an 5n at half or third of the price with the AMG offering no more drama as the engine is no longer part of the appeal.
It all feels a bit like the quartz crisis the difference being they have to stop making the ICE engines, whereas the Swiss just had to work out how to market the mechanical watch vs quartz.
EV energy efficiency : Even a 900bhp, 2.5ton Lotus Eletre SUV is more energy efficient than the absolute best MPG petrol & diesel cars.
clean tail pipe emissions granted. I get your tongue in cheek logic for sure, But a performance EV like an Eletre is a bad example in my opinion.
Because nothing says 'I’m environmentally conscious' like a 0-60 time that rivals a fighter jet... while hauling a bag of groceries. It’s the pinnacle of automotive evolution: a towering, 2.5-ton electric SUV that can give a Porsche 911 a run for its money on the school run. Just what we all need!
EV energy efficiency : Even a 900bhp, 2.5ton Lotus Eletre SUV is more energy efficient than the absolute best MPG petrol & diesel cars.
clean tail pipe emissions granted. I get your tongue in cheek logic for sure, But a performance EV like an Eletre is a bad example in my opinion.
Anyway, 1 mile per kWh is 40 mpg (imperial) for diesel.
Which diesels 'of any kind' are bettering 75 mpg real world average?
EV energy efficiency : Even a 900bhp, 2.5ton Lotus Eletre SUV is more energy efficient than the absolute best MPG petrol & diesel cars.
clean tail pipe emissions granted. I get your tongue in cheek logic for sure, But a performance EV like an Eletre is a bad example in my opinion.
2 miles per kWh average, which the Lotus easily achieves in the real world, is equivalent to 80 MPG. Which diesel or petrol car can AVERAGE 80 MPG ?
Fuel powered cars are hopelessly inefficient !
EV's use much less energy to travel the same distance
EV energy efficiency : Even a 900bhp, 2.5ton Lotus Eletre SUV is more energy efficient than the absolute best MPG petrol & diesel cars.
clean tail pipe emissions granted. I get your tongue in cheek logic for sure, But a performance EV like an Eletre is a bad example in my opinion.
2 miles per kWh average, which the Lotus easily achieves in the real world, is equivalent to 80 MPG. Which diesel or petrol car can AVERAGE 80 MPG ?
Fuel powered cars are hopelessly inefficient !
EV's use much less energy to travel the same distance
I know which one I'll be visiting.
The ICE fans love engines/noise/gearboxes etc, whereas the EV fans love silence/efficiency etc for example. They are completely different things in my eyes.
The ICE fans love engines/noise/gearboxes etc, whereas the EV fans love silence/efficiency etc for example. They are completely different things in my eyes.
I’ve had all manner of gas guzzling dinosaurs over the years, Mach 1 Mustang, C4 Corvette and currently loving my 07 Vantage.
I love the sounds from screaming four pots to V16’s, I love a good manual gearbox and certainly don’t want a whole raft of driver assists.
I’m an old fart perhaps but we are facing serious climate change and the electric car is becoming a fact of life. Whilst I certainly wouldn’t buy any current electric vehicle as I think the technology, range and weight isn’t there yet there are some mildly interesting features on electrics on PH.
I have no need for two cars but can certainly see the sense in a two car household having one electric car perhaps?
Trumps got another four years, return of big V8s?
king brilliant and can't wait for Brabus to get their hands on it.The ICE fans love engines/noise/gearboxes etc, whereas the EV fans love silence/efficiency etc for example. They are completely different things in my eyes.
I have a BEV, but visit Goodwood FoS every year, and also live three miles away from Brooklands, where I visit most of the gatherings and events.
How can you not see that people can possibly like both?
I mean, I like coffee and tea. Does that blow your mind also?
I know which one I'll be visiting.
PH has sub forums for politics, food, homes, video games, health matters....
It's a community.
The EV threads are always clearly marked. I'm not interested in the Coronation Street thread...so I don't visit it.
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