Image Credit: Mercedes-AMG.
My grandmother used to say that if you try to turn a turnip into a steak, you just end up with an angry dinner guest and a ruined root vegetable. It seems the mad engineers over at Affalterbach never met my grandmother. Welcome, everyone, to the brave, entirely silent new world of the Mercedes-AMG GT. It is a car that has looked directly into the abyss of environmental regulations, panicked, thrown its glorious twin-turbo V8 into the nearest recycling bin, and replaced it with an absolute mountain of batteries.
The automotive industry is hitting the brakes on electrification because actual car buyers are realizing that charging a car in a rain-slicked parking lot is about as fun as a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, but AMG is plowing straight ahead. They have built an all-electric super sedan that is so terrifyingly fast it will rearrange your brain cells, but they are also so deeply apologetic about the lack of engine noise that they have programmed the computer to pretend it is still burning ancient plants.
Image Credit: Mercedes-AMG.
The new low-slung sedan is heavily based on the Concept AMG GT XX from last year, and the designers have clearly been given a free hand. Too free, if you ask me. Its primary targets, the Porsche Taycan and the Audi e-tron GT, look like sleek, beautiful spaceships designed by cultured people with nice spectacles, but the Mercedes looks like a bit of a dog's dinner. It has a silhouette that resembles the Hunchback of Notre-Dame after a heavy night on the local stout. It is dramatic, yes, and it will trigger enough internet controversy to crash social media, but beautiful it is not.
But, as we know, AMG cars have never really been about delicate beauty. They are about brutal, and intoxicating violence. And on that front, this machine delivers enough voltage to light up the entire city of Edinburgh. Under that rather bulbous body sits a massive 106 kWh battery pack and a highly advanced 800-volt architecture. But the real magic hides in three axial flux electric motors. In the flagship GT 63 4Matic+ guise, these motors combine to output a completely hysterical, totally uncalled-for 1,153 horsepower.
Image Credit: Mercedes-AMG.
If that number does not make you blink, the torque figure will. When you engage launch control, this spaceship delivers 1,475 lb-ft of torque. That is enough twisting force to alter the rotation of the Earth if you launch it heading east. If you opt for the slightly tamer GT 55 version, you are still left with a highly respectable 805 horsepower - more than enough to scare your passengers into absolute silence.
The performance figures are a bit silly. The sprint from a dead stop to 60 mph takes 2.1 seconds if you include a one-foot rollout. If you choose to ignore that little bit of drag-racing trickery, it still does it in 2.4 seconds. Keep your foot buried in the carpet, and you will storm past 124 mph in 6.8 seconds. If you have been brave enough to tick the option box for the Driver's Package, it will keep accelerating until it tops out at an electronically limited 186 mph. It is an astonishing achievement, especially when you realize that both the GT 63 and GT 55 weigh a monumental 5,423 pounds. That is not a sports car - that is an entire condo moving at the speed of sound.
Image Credit: Mercedes-AMG.
To keep this massive, heavy lump from flying off into the scenery at the first sign of a bend, Mercedes has crammed every electronic wizardry known to mankind into the chassis. You get advanced AMG Active Ride Control air suspension with semi-active roll stabilization and fully adjustable rebound and compression shocks. There is also a clever rear-axle steering system. At speeds under 50 mph, the rear wheels turn opposite to the front wheels to make this giant beast feel nimble around town. Above 50 mph, they turn in the same direction so you do not spin into a hedge. You also get nine different levels of traction control, an Agility Control dial for variable torque distribution, and carbon-ceramic brake discs at the front to bring all that heavy metal to a halt.
But the piece of technology that will cause the most arguments at the local pub is something called the AMGFORCE S+ system. AMG knows deep down in its soul that without the classic, thunderous V8 burble, an AMG is just a very fast, very heavy German appliance. So, they have engineered a synthetic soundtrack that attempts to mimic the exact V8 growl of the old AMG GT R. It even includes completely fake gear shifts that jolt the car, trying desperately to copy the clever system found in the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N. You get seven different drive modes, including Comfort, Sport, Race, Slippery, Eco, and Individual. But when you activate the full AMGFORCE Sport+ system, the fake shifts and the synthesized V8 noise are cranked up to eleven. It is completely theatrical - and ridiculous. It is like watching a silent movie where someone is standing behind the curtain loudly shouting "Bang! Crash! Vroom!"
Image Credit: Mercedes-AMG.
Step inside the cabin, and it is a radical departure from the old petrol-powered model. It is a digital wonderland with a massive 14-inch main infotainment display, a 10.2-inch digital instrument cluster for the driver, and an optional 14-inch screen for the front passenger so they can watch television while you are trying not to crash. There is carbon fiber slapped on every available surface, a very intricate ambient lighting system that makes the interior look like a modern nightclub, and a Sky Control panoramic glass roof that can change colors depending on your mood.
When it comes to living with this electric monster, the charging times are actually quite impressive. The car supports DC fast charging speeds of up to an incredible 600 kW. If you can actually find a public charger that delivers that kind of juice, you can charge the battery from 10 to 80 percent in about 11 minutes. In fact, it can add 285 miles of driving range in a short 10 minutes. On a full charge, the GT 63 will give you an estimated range of up to 432 miles, while the slightly less powerful GT 55 stretches that to 435 miles.
Image Credit: Mercedes-AMG.
Mercedes-AMG has been a bit coy about the exact window sticker, stating only that pricing for these new electric models will be based on comparable predecessor vehicles. Given that the old hybrid V8 model cost north of $180,000, you had better start checking the cushions of your sofa for spare change right now. This incredibly fast, vastly complex and absurd vehicle is a magnificent engineering achievement, but I still cannot help but miss the smell of actual petrol.
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