Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG electric

Mercedes-Benz Now Testing Electric SLS Supercar

The Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG is nothing if not an exciting car to drive, and the German automaker is reportedly hard at work making sure that the upcoming electric version of the supercar generates the same kind of reaction from its occupants. In an interview with Autocar in the U.K., AMG head Volker Mornhinweg assures that the car is now testing on the road and will hit all of its targeted performance objectives.

The electric MB SLS AMG will sport four individual electric motors that spin out 525 horsepower and 649 lb-ft of torque through all four wheels. That's enough grunt to push the gullwinged-supercar from naught to 60 in 4.0 seconds. Three separate lithium ion battery packs will assure a range of 110 miles, though all those cells will push weight all the way up to a hefty 4,100 pounds – a full 500 pounds more than the gas-powered version.

If you're worried that all those extra pounds will make for a boring drive, don't be. "Effectively being four-wheel-drive does alter its character, but our torque vectoring systems give us opportunities to make it as good," affirms Mornhinweg. "It's important to get the emotional level of an EV right and we have some solutions." We'll have to wait until 2013 to find out for ourselves, at which time the SLS EV will hit the market, possibly for lease only with an unknown asking price.

Gallery: Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG