Last year Mercedes-Benz announced a huge commitment to electrification, with the debut of both the Smart EV and also the Generation EQ, a new range of electric-only cars. Now, at the 2017 Geneva Motor Show, Mercedes has unveiled the AMG GT Concept, a sportier take on what electrification means for the cars we drive.
Although the car commemorates the 50th year of AMG, Mercedes’ high-performance arm, the new four-door coupe looks to the future rather than the past. Designed exclusively by AMG, the new concept is only the second car to carry the new EQ Power+ badge, with the first being Mercedes’ 2017 F1 car.[gallery:1]
That means the new car features the same type of technology that’s powered the Mercedes F1 team to three straight championships, and that also means it’s going to be very fast. “With our AMG GT Concept that means a combination of an ultramodern V8 petrol engine and a high-performance electric motor,” said Tobias Moers, chairman of the board of management of Mercedes-AMG. “Both intelligently networked and with a modular battery concept with a combination of extremely powerful yet light batteries.”
“This performance hybrid powertrain offers an impressive electric range and the opportunity to generate a system output of up to 600 kW in its last level of development. It covers the sprint from 0-100 in less than three seconds – which corresponds to a super sports car level.” Those figures make it faster than the normal Mercedes-AMG GT, but not as fast as the AMG hypercar that will be launched at the Frankfurt Motor Show.[gallery:5]
As with many other performance hybrids, the new AMG uses a fofour-wheelelectric drive system with Torque Vectoring for more efficient use of power – but it appears the electric motor will only power the rear wheels.[gallery:2]
Although it can be seen as just another concept car – which can be easy to dismiss – the Mercedes-AMG Concept is yet more proof of the car industry’s commitment to electrification. In addition to the city cars we’re used to, such as the Smart car, or the hybrid cars you’d usually associated with Ubers – the Mercedes-AMG Concept shows how electrification will infiltrate every area of the car market.
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