Mercedes Vision AMG travels into the future of electrical performance

Mercedes AMG’s performance division was one of the first automotive companies in the world to take full advantage of electric drive technology when it launched the breathtaking SLS AMG Coupé Electric Drive almost a decade ago. So it is exciting to note that the department is returning to the electrical laboratory, assembling its first ground-based electric production vehicle. The sculptural Vision AMG gives an initial look at what this car might look like when it entices people at dealerships like irresistible silver-skinned cheeses.

If you’ve been following Mercedes concept cars for the last five or 10 years, the Vision AMG can give you the same type of déjà vu we had the second we saw it. And not only the silver paint “Alubeam” became so popular to absorb its concepts, but also the proportions and style.

We’ve definitely seen the lustful smooth body that looks like a carefully dried liquid metal cast on a shiny mold, most memorable throughout AMG Vision Gran Turismo 2013, where it comes with a very different cab-to-hood ratio and many more fender blades. The stretched roof line of the Vision AMG, which just doesn’t want to end, reminds us of the 2016 Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6 and the 2015 Concept IAA. The latter also gives its cut back.

But as for the past, the Vision AMG is truly for the future and what the first all-electric electric car may look like, developed in Afalterbach, a mix of stretched proportions and sporty, aerodynamic design features that promise comfort like a sedan and a heartbreaking coupe. The long wheelbase and roofline hint at ample leg and elbow space inside the four doors, while the sloping windscreen, low roof and sharply pressed active rear spoiler irritate how easily the car will glide through the wind while consuming electricity.

Beyond the sleek crease of the spoiler, Mercedes designers have purposefully minimized corners, joints, creases and other hard lines around the Vision AMG’s hull, focusing on smooth, smooth surfaces. The strategy applies even to the side and rear windows, where thin paint flows upwards from the rounded, three-dimensional belt line and C-pillars to erase the typical hard edge between the window and the body.

Mercedes-AMG

We are not completely convinced by the front combination of thin, sharp three-way star headlights and a huge grille with gnashing teeth, which we think collide strongly. It feels like the grille should be at least smaller or better yet, completely erased in favor of something finer. Fortunately, while Mercedes’ statement says the headlight signature “points directly to the future”, it does not make such a statement about the grille.

Vision AMG’s predictive body is based on an early iteration of the AMG.EA electric platform, which will be launched in 2025, underpinned AMG’s first electric car and future cars thereafter. Solid specifications are just as fluid as the body at the moment, but Mercedes says the power comes from a lightweight, high-power axial flow engine developed by its new subsidiary, YASA.

Source: Mercedes-AMG