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Saturday, April 24, 2010
Powered by Lithium: Electrifying performance - AMG SLS eDrive TNR.v, CZX.v, LMR.v, RM.v, LI.v, CLQ.v, WLC.v, SQM, FMC, ROC, DAI, BYDDY, NSANY, F, GM,
Posted by andre at 9:25 AM
Iconic brands will deliver the message - Electric Cars are not Toys any more. Fisker Karma and AMG SLS eDrive will be among trendsetters and mass market in EV will follow. It will be Cool to be Green. Lithium Demand will be next to become a serious game in town.
NorthShoreTimes:
Video: road test
"WITH the paint hardly dry on its new “Gullwing” coupe, Benz’s high-performance arm AMG has revealed details of an electric car that can match the SLS pound for pound.
What is even more exciting is that this electric performance model will be ready for sale within three years.
Based on the aforementioned SLS coupe, the electric version of the car, the SLS eDrive features not one but four electric motors - one for each wheel.
Speaking in Germany recently, AMG’s head of vehicle development Tobias Moeres described the electric SLS as a virtual road-going “laboratory”.
Rated at 100kW apiece, the four electric motors deliver drive to all four wheels, making it all-wheel-drive with the added benefits this brings in the form of improved traction and handling.
The combined torque output is 880Nm and the instant torque that characterises electric motors can catapult the car from standstill to 100km/h in less than four seconds.
Top speed however is limited at this stage to about 190km/h.
Although it’s significantly heavier, Moeres said the electric version of the car “covers its weight very easily”.
The car has a range of about 180km and can be charged to 80 per cent capacity in 20 to 30 minutes.
AMG has been testing the SLS eDrive on tracks in southern Europe.
A standard SLS weighs 1650kg while the electric one tips the scales at 2100kg.
Most of this extra weight can be attributed to the lithium-ion batteries. The batteries are distributed front and back in the engine bay and area normally occupied by the fuel tank as well as along the centre transmission tunnel, giving the car a low centre of gravity.
The standard double-wishbone suspension has been replaced in front by a new pushrod setup with coil-over dampers that are mounted horizontally, freeing up space around the front axle.
The car is said to have excellent handling characteristics, helped by the ability to alter the amount of power delivered to individual wheels.
But what is performance without the roar of a V8 or the satisfaction derived from changing gears.
It’s a question that keeps cropping up in any discussion about electric performance models.
AMG’s engine, powertrain and electronics boss Friezrich Eichler has assigned a team of eight engineers to deal with these and other issues.
Eichler is not a fan of artificially giving the car an engine note, much like changing the ring tone on your mobile phone.
For one thing he confirmed the exhaust tailpipes have been removed from the electric version.
“If we do it our SLS will have a natural electric sound,” he said.
Engineers are exploring the possibility of amplifying or altering the physical design of the electric motors to generate their own engine note - to give the car a unique, low-pitched turbine sound.
They have also been experimenting with giving the car a gear change, instead of the one forward gear that electric cars normally have - much like the effect you get with a stepped, continuously variable-style transmission.
The result is apparently very effective.
With blokes like these on the job the future is looking electrifying."
What is even more exciting is that this electric performance model will be ready for sale within three years.
Based on the aforementioned SLS coupe, the electric version of the car, the SLS eDrive features not one but four electric motors - one for each wheel.
Speaking in Germany recently, AMG’s head of vehicle development Tobias Moeres described the electric SLS as a virtual road-going “laboratory”.
Rated at 100kW apiece, the four electric motors deliver drive to all four wheels, making it all-wheel-drive with the added benefits this brings in the form of improved traction and handling.
The combined torque output is 880Nm and the instant torque that characterises electric motors can catapult the car from standstill to 100km/h in less than four seconds.
Top speed however is limited at this stage to about 190km/h.
Although it’s significantly heavier, Moeres said the electric version of the car “covers its weight very easily”.
The car has a range of about 180km and can be charged to 80 per cent capacity in 20 to 30 minutes.
AMG has been testing the SLS eDrive on tracks in southern Europe.
A standard SLS weighs 1650kg while the electric one tips the scales at 2100kg.
Most of this extra weight can be attributed to the lithium-ion batteries. The batteries are distributed front and back in the engine bay and area normally occupied by the fuel tank as well as along the centre transmission tunnel, giving the car a low centre of gravity.
The standard double-wishbone suspension has been replaced in front by a new pushrod setup with coil-over dampers that are mounted horizontally, freeing up space around the front axle.
The car is said to have excellent handling characteristics, helped by the ability to alter the amount of power delivered to individual wheels.
But what is performance without the roar of a V8 or the satisfaction derived from changing gears.
It’s a question that keeps cropping up in any discussion about electric performance models.
AMG’s engine, powertrain and electronics boss Friezrich Eichler has assigned a team of eight engineers to deal with these and other issues.
Eichler is not a fan of artificially giving the car an engine note, much like changing the ring tone on your mobile phone.
For one thing he confirmed the exhaust tailpipes have been removed from the electric version.
“If we do it our SLS will have a natural electric sound,” he said.
Engineers are exploring the possibility of amplifying or altering the physical design of the electric motors to generate their own engine note - to give the car a unique, low-pitched turbine sound.
They have also been experimenting with giving the car a gear change, instead of the one forward gear that electric cars normally have - much like the effect you get with a stepped, continuously variable-style transmission.
The result is apparently very effective.
With blokes like these on the job the future is looking electrifying."
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