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Mercedes SLS AMG E-CELL confirmed for production


The silent yet explosive AMG high-performance electric supercar is parked just around the corner. AMG boss Ola Kallenius has confirmed the all-electric Mercedes-Benz SLS "e-cell'' gullwing starts production later this year and goes on sale in 2013. There is interest from Australian enthusiasts who are among more than 100 people who have expressed interest in owning the coupe, despite no price being announced.

Mr Kallenius won't even hint at a price - but figure on a few cents short of $800,000 - is listed as having a 392kW/880Nm powerplant but he indicates the production model would have more. "We actually don't know how well it will sell,'' he says at an interview in Geneva. "We're going into this with an open mind.''

Mr Kallenius says the biggest challenges for the electric sports car are the same as any electric car - weight and range. "We want a range of 200km plus,'' he says. "We know that the batteries add more than 500kg to the weight of the petrol SLS but are equally aware that the e-cell has a lot more torque - so performance won't suffer - and that the batteries are located low and central in the chassis, so it can actually benefit handling.''

Mr Kallenius also admitted that the e-cell had ben run hard (and quietly) at the Nurburgring track. "I won't say how fast it was. It's quick - maybe I can say that it is very quick but not quite as quick as the petrol version.''

He says that people who buy the e-cell "want the ultimate technical machine''. "We'll launch the car later this year. We don't yet have enough information to give to potential buyers so we will wait until that's ready closer to the launch. We will also know by then if we will make a right-hand drive version. We're discussing that now. It is technically possible to make it in right-hand drive, but it takes a lot of work and is expensive.''