The Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Coupé Electric Drive
may be powered by batteries, but it is a legitimate supercar. It has
exotic supercar styling, supercar paint, and a 416,500 Euro ($550,600 at
today's rates) supercar price tag. Now, it also has a sub-eight-minute
supercar lap time around the Nürburgring Nordschleife.
With Mercedes AMG vehicle development manager Markus Hofbauer behind the
wheel, a bright yellow example has laid down an official time of
7:56.234. That's fast enough to embarrass the Audi R8 e-tron and snatch away the production EV record. The only electric vehicle that's done it faster is the Radical-based Toyota Motorsport EV P002, which is, of course, not for sale to the public.
You can watch the Mercedes – which begins making its way into buyer's
nicely-appointed garages later this month – quickly wind its way through
The Green Hell by scrolling below.
Not only do we have video featuring a nice intro and some flyby
footage, but there is also a full-length in-car recording with a
split-screen view of telemetry and the driver. As a bonus, we've even
thrown in a video of Chris Harris spending some quality track time with
the car, mostly because it has the best explanation (at the 9:55 mark)
of the advanced drivetrain that lies beneath its carbon fiber backbone.
Enjoy!